UNIVERSITY
OF CHICAGO
LIBRARY
\
of
EDITED BY THE
REV. PERCY DEARMER, M.A.
of
Edited by the
REV. PERCY DEARMER, M.A.
i6mo. Profusely Illustrated. Cloth, 1/6 net.
1. THE ORNAMENTS OF THE
MINISTERS. By the Rev. PERCY
DEARMER, M.A.
2. CHURCH BELLS. By H. B.
WALTERS, M.A., F.S.A.
3. THE ARCHITECTURAL HIS-
TORY OF THE CHRISTIAN
CHURCH. By A. G. HILL, M.A.,
F.S.A.
OTHERS TO FOLLOW
Frontispiece.
BISHOP IN CHOIR HABIT.
Rochet, Surplice, Almuce, Cope, Mitre, Crozier.
of
; THE ORNAMENTS OF
THE MINISTERS/
BY
THE REV. PERCY DEARMER, M.A.
n
WITH FORTT-ONE TLATES JND THIRTT-
FOUR FIGURES IN THE TEXT
A. R. MOWBRAY & CO. LTD.
LONDON : 34 Great Castle Street, Oxford Circus, W.
OXFORD : 9 High Street
Frontispiece.
BISHOP IN CHOIR HABIT.
Rochet, Surplice, Almuce, Cope, Mitre, Crozier.
of ti)e
THE ORNAMENTS OF
THE MINISTERS
BY
THE REV, PERCY DEARMER, M.A.
WITH FORTT-ONE TL4TES JND THIRTT-
FOUR FIGURES IN THE TEXT
A. R. MOWBRAY & CO. LTD.
LONDON : 34 Great Castle Street, Oxford Circus, W.
OXFORD : 9 High Street
RV'fe
3
First printed, 1908
UNIVERSITY
OF CHICAGO
LIBRARY
NOTE
THE little volumes in the ARTS OF
THE CHURCH series are intended
to provide information in an interesting
as well as an accurate form about the
various arts which have clustered round
the public worship of God in the Church
of Christ. Though few have the oppor-
tunity of knowing much about them,
there are many who would like to possess
the main outlines about those arts whose
productions are so familiar to the Chris-
tian, and so dear. The authors will write
for the average intelligent man who has
not had the time to study all these matters
for himself; and they will therefore avoid
technicalities, while endeavouring at the
same time to present the facts with a
fidelity which will not, it is hoped, be
unacceptable to the specialist.
Vll
PREFACE
subject of ecclesiastical costume,
JL about which so many misconceptions
used to prevail, has been made enormously
simpler and more secure by the researches
of two men, Joseph Wilpert, whose
great discoveries in Early Christian art
have been enshrined since 1903 in the
two priceless volumes of his Roma
Sotterranea^ and who in 1898 published
a special book on Early Christian dress,
'Die Gewandung der Christen in den ersten
Jahrhunderten, and Francis Xavier Braun,
who, in 1897-8, published two small
books on Christian vestments, and last year
followed these up with his great work,
T)ie liturgische Gewandung, from the vast
resources of which much of the present
little book is quarried. Erudition and
judgement, such as has now at last been
brought to this subject, could not fail to
IX
x Preface
settle many ancient controversies ; the
more so for us, now that in the present
year the Sub -Committee of the Upper
House of the Convocation of Canterbury
has,. presented its Report on the Ornaments
Rubric, drawn up by seven of our mdst
learned bishops, in which the new know-
ledge has been ably summarized. After
their 7 work, w,e may reasonably hope
that,,. the- foolish vestiarian warfare of
, centuries and a half has been laid
"l i 1 I
at rest.
I have tried to arrange this book so
that it may be of use to the student as
well as to the general reader. For this
reason foot-notes are given to the newer
or more crucial points, so that it will
be possible to follow these up in the
authorities. For the rest, and where it
is not otherwise stated, the facts will be
easily found in Wilpert and Braun. It
would have been difficult to condense the
material into a - little book without this
general reference, and still -more without
Preface xi
the illustrations, which enable me to spare
the reader many pages of description.
For these illustrations I am very
deeply indebted to the friends who have
kindly served as models, to the Secretary
of the St. Dunstan Society, 102 Adelaide
Road, N.W.j which is acknowledged as
" S.D.S." in the List of Illustrations, to
Miss Violet K. Blaiklock, 18 Elsworthy
Road, N.W., for the photographs to which
she has given such great and successful
labour, and to Mr. Clement O. Skilbeck,
6 Carlton Hill, N. W., who has most kindly
enabled me to make many difficult matters
clear by his beautiful drawings.
CONTENTS
PART I. INTRODUCTORY
CHAPTER PAGE
I. ORNAMENTS - 3
II. THE ORIGIN OF VESTMENTS - - 9
III. CLASSICAL COSTUME - - - 22
PART II. ORNAMENTS OF THE PRIMITIVE
CHURCH
IV. THE ALBE - - - - 35
V. THE CHASUBLE - - - . - 42
VI. THE PALLIUM - - - - 55
VII. THE TUNICLE AND DALMATIC - 60
VIII, BUSKINS AND SANDALS 67
IX. THE STOLE - - - - 71
X. THE MANIPLE OR FANON - - 75
PART III. AFTER THE FIRST Six CENTURIES
XL THE COPE 83
XII. OTHER FORMS OF THE COPE - 95
XIII. THE AMICE - - - - 104
xiii
xiv Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
XIV. THE BISHOP'S CROZIER AND MITRE 106
XV. SOME OTHER EPISCOPAL ORNAMENTS ill
XVI. THE ROCHET .':-'- - 117
XVII. THE SURPLICE - - - -127
XVIII. THE ALMUCE - - - 133
,XIX. THE Hoot)' 1 u - - ; - - ' - 137
i '
:; XX. ..THE TIPPET OR SCARF ,, ; . r - 146
PART IV. OUT-DOOR ^ COSTUME
XXI. THE SQUARE CAP - - - 155
XXII. THE CHIMERE - - - ' - 162
XXIII. CASSOCK AND GOWN - - - 167
ADDITIONAL ITEMS (Ruffs, the .
Scarlet Coat, Wands and Maces,
the Offertory Veil -
PART V. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORNAMENTS
XXIV. THE COLOUR OF VESTMENTS - 179
XXV. USE OF THE ORNAMENTS - - 188
LIST OF PLATES
PLATE PAGE
1. BISHOP IN CHOIR HABIT (S.D.S.). Photo-
graph by Violet K. Blaiklock - Frontispiece
2. THE EMPEROR TRAJAN AND HIS OFFICERS
c. 100 A.D. - - - - - - 5
3. SEPULCHRAL STELE OF THE SAILOR BLUSSUS,
C. 2ND CENTURY - - - - - 19
4. ORANS IN LONG TUNIC AND PAENULA, 4.
CENTURY 29
-5. MOSAIC OF ST. AMBROSE, c. 400 A.D. - - 40
6. MOSAIC OF ARCHBISHOP MAXIMIANUS AND
TWO DEACONS, 6ra CENTURY 45
7. BISHOP AND CLERGY : IVORY, gra CENTURY 49
8. THE PAENULA IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY.
Brass showing Chasuble, etc. - - 51
9. A MODERN CHASUBLE (S.D.S.) - V.K.B. 52
10. ORANS IN DALMATIC, 3RD CENTURY - - 61
11. A MODERN DALMATIC (S.D.S.) - V.K.B. 64
12. THE DEACON'S STOLE (S.D.S.) - V.K.B. 70
13. THE ORDINATION OF ST. LAWRENCE. By
Fra Angelico, 1450 - - - - - 78
14. BRASS, SHOWING THE PROCESSIONAL VEST-
MENTS ......... 8i
15. OLD WESTMINSTER COPE - - V.K.B. 91
16. MODERN WESTMINSTER COPE - V.K.B. 92
17. CLOTH COPE (S.D.S.) - - - V.K.B. 94
1 8. CLOTH COPE OF THE LINCOLN CHORISTERS
V.K.B. 97
xv.
xvi List of Plates
PLATE PAGE
19. THE D.D. COPE, CAMBRIDGE - V.K.B. 98
20. CANON'S MANTLE OF THE ORDER OF THE
GARTER (S.D.S.) - - - V.K.B. 100
21. ROYAL CHAPLAIN'S MANTLE - V.K.B. 102
22. ARCHBISHOP IN FULL PONTIFICALS - - 112
23. SERVER'S SLEEVED ROCHET (S.D.S.) V.K.B. 116
24. BRASS, SHOWING A BISHOP'S OUT-DOOR DRESS :
BISHOP GESTE, 1578 119
25. BISHOP'S ROCHET (S.D.S.) - - V.K.B, 120
26. A SLEEVELESS ROCHET (S.D.S.) - V.K.B. 123
27. A WINGED ROCHET (S.D.S.) - V.K.B. 124
28. CHORISTER IN SURPLICE : SHOWING ALSO
THE RUFF (S.D.S.) - - - V.K.B. 126
29. CANON IN GREY ALMUCE (S.D.S.) V.K.B. 132
30. BRASS, SHOWING PRIEST IN GOWN AND
HOOD, 1521 138
31. PRIEST IN CHOIR HABIT (S.D.S.) V.K.B. 143
32. THE ARRIVAL OF ST. URSULA. By Car-
paccio, c. 1506 ------ 152
33. BISHOP IN OUT-DOOR DRESS (S.D.S.) V.K.B. 156
34. PRIEST IN OUT-DOOR DRESS (S.D.S.) V.K.B. 164
35. PRIEST IN ACADEMICAL DRESS (S.D.S.) V.K.B. 169
36. PRIEST IN COURT DRESS - - V.K.B. 170
37. THE SERGEANT OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL
V.K.B. 174
38. CHOIR HABIT OF THE CHILDREN OF THE
CHAPEL ROYAL - - - - V.K.B. 180
39. CLERK IN TUNICLE WITH VEIL (S.D.S.) V.K.B. 182
40. A CELEBRATION IN THE J5TH CENTURY - 185
41. PRIEST VESTED FOR A BAPTISM OR WED-
DING (S.D.S.) - - - - V.K.B. 190
LIST OF FIGURES IN TEXT
BY CLEMENT O. SKILBECK
FIGURE PAGE
1. TUBULAR COSTUME 12
2. THE SAME 12
3. THE FOUNDATION OF CLASSICAL COSTUME :
A STRIP OF WOOL 22
4. THE CLASSICAL TUNIC 23
5. THE LONG TUNIC, OR TUNICA TALARIS - 23
6. A STRIP OF THREE SQUARES - - - 24
7. THE CLASSICAL PALLIUM, WORN OVER THE
TUNICA TALARIS 25
8. THE MODERN PALLIUM IN THE WEST : ARMS
OF THE SEE OF CANTERBURY 25
9. PLAN OF THE PAENULA - - - - 25
10. PLAN OF THE LACERNA - - - - 25
11. THE TUNIC (Fig. 4, repeated) 35
12. THE TUNICA TALARIS (Fig. 5, repeated) - 35
13. PLAN OF THE PAENULA (Fig. 9, repeated) - 42
14. THE BELL-SHAPED CHASUBLE - - 50
15. THE EARLY MEDLEVAL CHASUBLE - - 50
16. THE LATE MEDLEVAL CHASUBLE - - 50
17. CHASUBLE (PHELONION) OF THE EASTERN
CHURCH 54
18. THE CLASSICAL PALLIUM (Fig. 7, repeated) - 55
19. THE MODERN PALLIUM (Fig. 8, repeated) - 58
20. PALLIUM (OMOPHORION) OF THE EASTERN
CHURCH, WORN OVER SAKKOS OR DALMATIC 59
xvii
xviii List of Figures in Text
FIGURE ' PAGE
21. DEACON'S TUNICLE, GIRDLE, AND STOLE IN
THE EASTERN CHURCH - -.> -- .- ^
22. THE FRIGIUM OR EARLIEST FORM OF MITRE 108
23. LATER FORM OF MITRE - - - - 109
24. INTERMEDIATE FORM OF MITRE - - - 109
25. FINAL FORM OF MITRE - - - - 109
26. MITRE OF THE EASTERN CHURCH - - lio
27. ALMUCE - - - ... . 134
28. HOOD OF A MASTER OF ARTS, SHOWING THE
LIRIPIP, c. 1464 (From Chandler MS., New
Coll., Oxford). - ' 146
29. A "LITTLE HAT WITH LIRIPIP," worn by
a Knight of the Garter, c. 1470, from a MS.
reproduced in Henry Shaw, Dresses and Deco-
rations of the Middle Ages, Vol. II. - - 147
30. THE SAME WORN OVER ONE SHOULDER AS
A TIPPET. (From Brit. Mus. MS. Royal 14
E. iv. 30) 148
31. LIRIPIP OR TIPPET FASTENED ON SHOULDER
WITH A ROSETTE. (From Brass of Richard
Bethell, Vicar, 1518, Sherwell, I.W.) - - 148
32. THE SAME, WORN MORE LOOSELY, WITHOUT
ROSETTE. (From Chandler MS. as above) - 149
33. PRIEST IN CASSOCK, TIPPET (FASTENED ON
SHOULDERS WITH ROSETTE), AND ROUND
CAP. (From Brass of John Yslyngton, S.T.P.,
c. 1520, Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk) - - 158
34. CASSOCK AND TIPPET. (From Brass of a Not-
ary, c. 1475, S. Mary's, Ipswich) - - - 167
of tije
THE ORNAMENTS OF
THE MINISTERS
PART I
INTRODUCTORY
B
CHAPTER I
Ornaments
'HpHE ORNAMENTS OF THE MINISTERS.
JL This may seem at first a roundabout
way of describing what some people know
as Robes and others as Vestments ; but it is
really the only title that is quite accurate,
and the only one that exactly covers the
contents of this book. For the word robe '
is too general and is used of mayors as
well as ministers; while the word 'vest-
ment,' on the other hand, is too restricted,
being indeed sometimes a synonym for the
garments specially associated with the Holy
Communion. Besides, some things are not
worn at all, but are carried as symbols of
office ; thus a bishop's Crozier, which is
clearly not a vestment or a robe, is yet
an Ornament of the Minister.
Furthermore this phrase, " the Orna-
ments of the Ministers," is the right one
4 Introductory
to use, because it is the phrase we find in
the Prayer Book, and is there used in
the proper sense of ecclesiastical law, an
Ornament meaning anything that is used
for a special purpose, a utensil or equip-
ment, whether 'ornamental' or not, while
a Minister means any servant of the
Church, and may include the oldest bishop
or the youngest choir-boy.
THE ORNAMENTS RUBRIC. All the
things employed in the service of the
Church are therefore either Ornaments of
the Ministers (such as vestments), or else
Ornaments of the Church itself (such
as .the altar, the church-plate, or the pul-
pit). Thus two kinds of Ornaments are
mentioned together in the Ornaments
Rubric, which gives us the law of the
Church in England. This important
rubric stands in the forefront of the
Prayer Book, being printed immediately
before the first service, that of Morning
Prayer. It runs as follows :
Plate 2.
A Lictor
in Lacerna.
A General Trajan
in Chlamys.
Two Soldiers
in Tunic and Paenula.
THE EMPEROR TRAJAN AND HIS OFFICERS, c. 100 A.D.
From the Arch of Trajan in Benevento.
(See Chapters III, IV, V, XL)
4 Introductory
to use, because it is the phrase we find in
the Prayer Book, and is there used in
the proper sense of ecclesiastical law, an
Ornament meaning anything that is used
for a special purpose, a utensil or equip-
ment, whether ornamental ' or not, while
a Minister means any servant of the
Church, and may include the oldest bishop
or the youngest choir-boy.
THE ORNAMENTS RUBRIC. All the
things employed in the service of the
Church are therefore either Ornaments of
the Ministers (such as vestments), or else
Ornaments of the Church itself (such
as the altar, the church-plate, or the pul-
pit). Thus two kinds of Ornaments are
mentioned together in the Ornaments
Rubric, which gives us the law of the
Church in England. This important
rubric stands in the forefront of the
Prayer Book, being printed immediately
before the first service, that of Morning
Prayer. It runs as follows :
Plate 2.
A Lictor
in Lacerna.
A General Trajan
in Chlamys.
Two Soldiers
in Tunic and Paenula.
THE EMPEROR TRAJAN AND HIS OFFICERS, c. 100 A.Q.
From the Arch of Trajan in Benevento.
(See Chapters III, IV, V, XI.)
6 Introductory
" And here is to be noted, That such
Ornaments of the Church, and of the
Ministers thereof at all times of their
Ministration, shall be retained, and be in
use, as were in this Church of England
by the authority of Parliament, in the
second year of the reign of King
Edw. VI."
Those garments, therefore, and other
symbols of office, which were legally used
in 1548-9, are ordered to be in use to-day.
What these mainly were we learn from
the first English reformed Prayer Book,
which is known as the First Prayer Book of
Edward VI. (1549) ; and thus it is made
quite clear that the Ornaments there men-
tioned ought to be used now. l They are :
The Albe : the Vestment : the Cope :
TheTunicle : the Surplice : the Hood :
The Bishop's Rochet, and Pastoral Staff.
1 For an admirable statement of the history and
meaning of the Ornaments Rubric the reader can
easily obtain Mr. F. C. Eeles' The Ornaments Rubric,
in the Churchman's Penny Library (Mowbrays).
Ornaments 7
This list, short as it is, includes most of
the garments which we see in church. But
it is clearly not meant to be exhaustive ; and
there are a few things not mentioned in
the First Prayer Book, which none the
less were legally used in 1548-9 : such
are the Tippet or Black Scarf, and the
ornamented Wands used by Vergers and
Churchwardens. Even the familiar Stole
is not mentioned ; though it is almost
undoubtedly included, with the maniple,
apparels, and girdle, under the term Vest-
ment,' (which was indeed generally used,
not for the Chasuble alone, but for the
complete Eucharistic Vestments), and we
may be sure it was worn at Holy Baptism
with the Surplice in 1548-9. The Almuce
also is not alluded to in the First Prayer
Book, but we know it was not finally
given up till 1571.
Neither is outdoor costume referred to
in the First Prayer Book ; and therefore
the familiar Bishop's Chimere is omitted,
as well as the black Gown. None the
8 Introductory
less these have been largely used for
preaching, and indeed some bishops do
even administer the Sacraments in the
Chimere.
These, then, are the Ornaments de-
scribed in the following pages, the eight
mentioned in the First Prayer Book,
together with certain others which were
lawfully used in carrying _out the services
of that book. For convenience' sake we
will include also in our description the
out-door costume of the Ministers.
The Origin of Vestments
CHAPTER II
Origin of Vestments
NO one needs telling that these ecclesi-
astical Ornaments are of considerable
antiquity : we are all familiar with them in
old pictures ; and even if we were not, we
should guess at once when we see a man
6 i i -i
wearing a long white garment with a
coloured hood on his shoulders that his
costume belongs to some long past time
before trousers and top hats were in-
vented.
It will therefore be more interesting as
well as more instructive if, in describing
the Ornaments of the Ministers, we take
them historically, beginning with the most
ancient, and giving the place of honour to
those that are mentioned in the New
Testament.
io Introductory
But before we go any farther we must
clearly understand that these garments
were not originally church vestments at all.
They were once articles of ordinary dress.
Then they were gradually retained for
Church purposes.
You might perhaps have expected that
the authorities of the Church would have
invented new garments and appointed
them for use in different services. But
this is not what happened. I expect that
in ancient times the people would have
thought their parson looked odd if he
had suddenly appeared in some new
costume that had never been seen before.
They certainly Would now, and human
nature has not changed.
So you must not think when for
instance you see a hood upon the parson's
shoulders that once upon a time the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury invented it, and cut
out a pattern in brown paper and said that
every priest was to wear it. When we
come to think about it, we can see that
The Origin of Vestments i 1
this sort of thing never could have
happened. What really did happen was
that once upon a time every shepherd on
the hills and every ploughman in the
valleys wore a hood upon his head for the
simple object of keeping it warm ; and
when he came indoors he threw it back
over his shoulders. And the clergy wore
them also both out of doors and in
church ; and after a time they were worn
in different colours by learned people, the
colours representing the degrees they had
taken at the Universities. Thus the hood
has become after some vicissitudes an
Ornament of the Minister.
So the garments we see in church are
really much more interesting than if they
were fancy costumes specially invented for
the occasion. They take us back to ages
long past when these things were articles
of every-day attire. And this has also
happened outside the church. Our Eng-
lish Judges and barristers wear wigs
because in the eighteenth century every-
12 Introductory
body wore wigs : when other people gave
them up, the men of law retained
them, and very dignified do they look in
them. They have also retained gowns
like the clergy ; and the Judges wear hoods
as well as bright coloured cassocks, so that
if it were not for their wigs they would
look very like ecclesiastics, as indeed they
did in the days when they wore coifs
upon their heads.
At the present time it is man's fancy to
dress hideously : he encases himself
in five tubes, two for the arms, two
for the legs, and one for the trunk
(with a smaller connecting tube
round the neck) ; and when he goes
out, he puts on the top of his head a sixth
tube which is so useless that it has to be
protected by an umbrella. If we
were not so accustomed to this
absurd fashion of the past hundred
years, we should see how ridiculous
2 and undignified it is. We have
only to imagine one of the Apostles thus
The Origin of .Vestments 13
bedizened in a frock-coat and a top hat, to
see that in our hearts we do know that
men look absurd when encased in dingy
cylinders. It is clearly wrong for men to
look like this, because they become ugly
blots on the world which God makes with
such infinite loveliness ; so that earth and
sky, trees and flowers, beasts, birds and
insects are of ever varying beauty, and only
man looks vile man who should be the
crown and glory of that visible loveliness
which God provides with such care for the
comfort, refreshment, and inspiration of
our hearts.
It is then a good thing that the Church
bears witness against our vulgarity, and
provides for her ministers garments of
dignity and grace. For if she did not,
she would not be true to the Spirit of
the God whom we worship, who paints
the wayside flower and lights the even-
ing star, who is indeed the Maker of
Heaven and Earth, and the Author of all
beauty.
14 Introductory .:
THE FIRST TRACES. In the early days
of Christian history, when all dress was
comely (and indeed very like what we see
in a well-ordered church to-day), the
clergy wore the costume of the period.
It may be that in the 2nd century they
wore the tunic in the long form that we
call the Albe, 1 and we know that even
before the ist century this long Tunic was
used among the Romans by poets and
seers. 2 The celebrant in the earliest picture
we have of the Eucharist (the Fractio Panis
in the Catacomb of St. Priscilla 3), which is
between the years 100 and 150 A.D., has
such a long Tunic under his Pallium, and
the famous statue of St. Hippolytus
(c. 250) is similarly clad, with the addition
of an Over-tunic. These instances are
1 Wilpert, Cjemndung, p. 34.
2 Marquardt, Pri^atleben der Romer, II, p. 563.
3 Wilpert, Roma Sotterranea. Wilpert discovered
this intensely interesting fresco a few years ago by
laboriously removing the stalactites which had con-
cealed it.
The Origin of Vestments 1 5
significant for the reason that the long
Tunic had not yet come into common
use ; but they are only two, and for this
early date we have no other material to go
upon. We must not therefore press them
as if they proved any definite rule ; and
we must remember too that the early
Christian Churches were often poor and
often persecuted. It is probable also that
the wearing of shoes instead of sandals
was a distinction that went back to very
early times. 1 Beyond this, although so
many of the garments now used by us in
church were commonly worn in the 1st,
2nd and 3rd centuries, we have no reason
to suppose that there was any ecclesiastical
distinction then about them, except that
the Pallium was often worn by the clergy
because it was the distinctive dress of
philosophers and teachers. 2
WHITE GARMENTS. Although we do
not meet with any certain evidence of the
, I See p. 67. 2 See p. 56.
1 6 Introductory
use of white in Christian worship till the
4th century, it is very likely .that this
custom reaches much farther back ; for
not only is white the symbol of purity and
heavenly brightness, but it is so used in
the New Testament writings. Thus we
read in St. Mark's account of the Trans-
figuration :
" And his garments became glistering,
. exceeding white ; so as no fuller on earth
can whiten them. 1
And St. John speaks in the Apocalypse
of " white garments " being given to him
that overcometh 2 ; and he describes the
seven angels as " arrayed with linen, pure
and bright, and girt about their breasts
with golden girdles "3 ; while the redeemed
who stand before the throne in the worship
of heaven are "arrayed in -white robes,
1 Mk. 9. 3 R.V. : cf. Mt. 17. 2.
2 Rev. 3. 5 R.V.
3 Ibid. 15. 6. Some texts have "arrayed with
precious stones," and the R.V. puts " linen " in the
margin.
The Origin of Vestments 17
and palms in their hands," 1 because they
had washed them and " made them white
in the blood of the Lamb." 2
This symbolism could not but have' had
its effect in a Church that reverenced the
Scriptures, the more so because both
Jewish and pagan converts had been used
to associate white with public worship in
their own. old religions. And indeed we
find -in the catacombs of Rome, that our
Lord and His Apostles are almost always
represented in white Tunic and Pallium.
But unfortunately we lack definite evidence
as to liturgical use till the 4th century :
for the date of the so-called Canons of
Hippolytus is uncertain, and the following
passage which mentions the white garments
of the assistants (not of the celebrant), is
probably later than Constantine :
" When the bishop takes part in the
Mysteries, the deacons and priests
should gather to him dressed in white
garments, which are more beautiful than
1 Rev. 7. 9. R.V. (as always.) 2 Ibid. 7. 14.
C
1 8 Introductory
those of all the people, and more
brilliant."
We must not however suppose because
of this that even in the 4th century dress
in church was exclusively white. That
colour always had the high significance of
joy and purity, and white robes are still the
essential clothing of the ministers in
Christian worship ; but other colours have
always been worn over it, -just as the
angels in the Apocalypse are described as
having golden girdles over their white
Albes, just as the white-robed priest of
the present day may wear a scarlet hood
over his white Surplice, or a coloured
chasuble over his white Albe.
Passages from St. Clement, St. Jerome,
and others, are sometimes quoted as if they
proved that white was the exclusive colour
of primitive vestments ; but Braun 1 after
an exhaustive examination has shown that
these instances establish nothing more than
that the Tunic or Albe was white (as it is
1 Gemndung, pp. 754-60.
Plate 3.
SEPULCHRAL STELE OF THE SAILOR BLUSSUS, IN TUNIC
(ALBE), NECK-CLOTH (AMICE), AND PAENULA (CHASUBLE).
From the Museum at Mainz, c. second century,
(See pages 43, 104).
1 8 Introductory
those of all the people, and more
brilliant."
We must not however suppose because
of this that even in the 4th century dress
in church was exclusively white. That
colour always had the high significance of
joy and purity, and white robes are still the
essential clothing of the ministers in
Christian worship ; but other colours have
always been worn over it, just as the
angels in the Apocalypse are described as
having golden girdles over their white
Albes, just as the white-robed priest of
the present day may wear a scarlet hood
over his white Surplice, or a coloured
chasuble over his white Albe.
Passages from St. Clement, St. Jerome,
and others, are sometimes quoted as if they
proved that white was the exclusive colour
of primitive vestments; but Braun 1 after
an exhaustive examination has shown that
these instances establish nothing more than
that the Tunic or Albe was white (as it is
1 Gewandung, pp. 754-60.
Plate 3.
SEPULCHRAL STELE OF THE SAILOR BLUSSUS, IN TUNIC
(ALBE), NECK-CLOTH (AMICE), AND PAENULA (CHASUBLE).
From the Museum at Mainz, c. second century.
(See pages 43, 104).
2o Introductory
still), that the Dalmatic was always white
(with purple stripes) as late as the 9th
century, 1 and that white was in compara-
tively early times specially associated with
the Easter Festival. As he points out, the
Paenula or Chasuble was always of another
colour, and is almost invariably so repre-
sented in the earliest frescoes and mosaics,
where its colours are chestnut-brown,
purple-violet, green, yellow, red, and blue
(an extensive palette). There is one white
Paenula among the mosiacs, but this is
precisely on a figure that is modern.
Indeed the Paenula was essentially a
coloured garment also in it earliest and
secular use, when it was generally of a red
or yellowish brown colour 2 ; and in the
3rd century fresco of the Dedication of a
Virgin, in the Catacomb of St. Priscilla, the
bishop wears a yellowish brown Paenula
1 In most places this custom continued for a
considerable time, and coloured Dalmatics did -m>t
become universal till the 1 2th century.
2 Wilpert, Getvandung, p. 34.
- The Origin, of Vestments 21
over a white Tunic with dark stripes, and
the deacon a green Tunic.
We should naturally expect that in the
4th century,, when Christianity emerged
from persecution and began to be a
universal religion, there would be a great
increase of splendour, and we know from
contemporary records that this was so.
Among other rich gifts which the Emperor
Constantine gave to various churches we
read of a cloth of gold vestment which he
sent to Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem for
use at Baptisms.
22 '". Introductory ' *
CHAPTER HI
@1a$sieal
WE have already alluded to the gar-
ments of classical antiquity which
ordinary citizens of the Empire wore in
the age of the Apostles. It is time now
that we should see what they were.
Classical garments were originally mac^e
from the stuff in its natural form as it
came from the loom, that is to
say, they consisted of an oblong
strip cut from the piece.
I. UNDER-GARMENTS* i. The Tunica.
The simplest of these was the Tunic,
which was merely this strip folded in two,
and fastened across the body. As time
went on, sleeves were often added to it.
Then it came to be lengthened to the feet
'Classical Costume 23
for persons of dis-
tinction. It was
the minimum in-
door dress of the
Romans.
This is our
Albe.
2 and 3. Tunica
and "Dalmatica.
Over this was often
worn another tunic
4 for the sake of 5
warmth and protection, either indoors or
out. . , This Over-tunic was used in the ist
century A.D. ; and in the 2nd century
another form of it came into use called
the T)almatica (Plate 10).
These are our Tunicle and Dalmatic.
II. OVER-GARMENTS. Out of doors
some kind of what we should now call an
overcoat would be needed.
4. The Toga was the most famous of
these. It was a long strip of cloth folded
24 . Introductory
round the body in a peculiar manner ; but
in spite of its beautiful dignity, it was
already in the ist century being gradually
replaced by simpler garments because it
was difficult to adjust and to wear.
5. The Chlamys was an overcoat formed
of a strip doubled and fastened by a brooch
on the right shoulder, as in Plate 2. It
thus left the right arm free for righting,
and was a martial garment, just as the
cumbrous Toga was a stately robe for
senators and such like folk.
Neither Toga nor Chlamys have come
down to us ; but they can be seen in any
sculpture gallery.
6. The Pallium was a sim-
plification of the Toga, made
of a long strip of cloth.
Philosophers wanted something-dignified
like the Toga, but less difficult to arrange.
So they flung the strip in the simplest way
over the left shoulder. Thus the Pallium
had much the same meaning as the aca-
demic Gown has to-day, giving dignity
'Classical Costume
25
even to 'learned and untidy
persons. Because it was the
lecturer's garment, early Chris-
tian teachers wore it, and it
has always been the conven-
tional dress of Scriptural
figures in sacred art.
The Pallium has
come down to us much
changed, as the mark
of an Archbishop.
7. The Paenula was a warm and cori^
venient overgarment ' made in
the form of a circle with a hole
in the middle for the head.
. This is our ,Cbasuble. ...
8 .: The Lacerna or Byrms
was like a Paenula cut in
-half; so that, being open
in front, it could be more
readily slipped on and off. 1
This is our Qope.
1 When St. Cyprian was : mar tyred (A.D. 258), he
first took off his " Lacerna Byrrus " and prayed ;
26 Introductory
III. NAPKINS. Since there were no
pockets in Classical garments, napkins or
handkerchiefs had to be carried, and thus
became articles of dress.
9. The Orarium was a large napkin,
generally thrown over the left shoulder.
This is our Stole.
10. The Mappula was a smaller napkin,
too short to be borne on the shoulder, and
thus naturally carried on the left arm, just
as we see waiters doing at the present
day.
This is- our fManipk.
Thus we have still in church to-day
most of the garments that were worn in
the time of the Apostles. It will be
noticed that these are not the vestments
used at the plain choir-services of Mattins
and Evensong, but those which belong to
more solemn occasions, and are especially
then he took off his Dalmatic, and stood in his
Tunic to receive the death-blow. He did not wear
these as liturgical vestments, but as his ordinary
clothes.
Classical Costume 27
distinctive of the ancient services given
us by our Lord himself the Eucharist
and Baptism. At the Eucharist the priest
wears the long white Tunica, with the
Orarium and Mappula, and over all the
Paenula ; the deacon substitutes for the
latter his Dalmatica ; the subdeacon wears
the Over-tunic over the Tunica and Mappula.
For the administration of Baptism the
Orarium is the distinctive vestment ; and
for any solemn occasion the Lacerna is
worn. 1
But the fixing of these different gar-
ments for the use of particular ministers
in the services of the Church was naturally
a gradual process so gradual indeed that
even to-day the Chasuble, though it is the
distinctive dress of the celebrating priest,
is still worn at Rome by deacons and
sub-deacons for nearly a quarter of the
year. 2
It came about in this way. As time
went on, fashions changed and the ancient
1 See Chapter XXV. 2 See pp. 46-7. .
28: Introductory
classical garments gradually disappeared
from ordinary use ; but officials of the
State retained some of them for a time as
marks of distinction, 1 and the officials of
the Church never parted with them at all,
but retain them still all except the Toga,
the symbol of pagan domination, 2 and the
Chlamys, the sign of war. Thus it was
that the long Tunic or Albe continued as
the foundation of church dress, and the
venerable Pallium is, in the earliest pic-
tures we have, naturally the special .mark
of a bishop.
The Chasuble appears as a Eucharistic
vestment as early as the end of the
1 An early and very interesting instance of this
appears in a law of A.D. 382, by which senators on
entering Rome or Constantinople were ordered to
put aside the martial Chlamys, and to wear in the
city the Dalmatic and Paenula : their officers were
to have the girt Tunic and the Pallium of two
colours so that they might- be recognized and re*
spected when on duty ; and their slaves were to
appear in the Byrrus, if permitted, or the cloak called
a Cucullus. . 2 See Tertullian, De Pallia.
Plate 4.
ORANS, OR PRAYING FIGURE, IN LONG TUNIC
AND PAENULA.
Catacomb of SS. Pietro and Marcellino, Rome. Beginning
of 4th century. (See page 44.)
2 8 Introductory
classical garments gradually disappeared
from ordinary use ; but officials of the
State retained some of them for a time as
marks of distinction, 1 and the officials of
the Church never parted with them at all,
but retain them still all except the Toga,
the symbol of pagan domination, 2 and the
Chlamys, the sign of war. Thus it was
that the long Tunic or Albe continued as
the foundation of church dress, and the
venerable Pallium is, in the earliest pic-
tures we have, naturally the special mark
of a bishop.
The Chasuble appears as a Eucharistic
vestment as early as the end of the 4th
1 An early and very interesting instance of this
appears in a law of A.D. 382, by which senators on
entering Rome or Constantinople were ordered to
put aside the martial Chlamys, and to wear in the
city the Dalmatic and Paenula : their officers were
to have the girt Tunic and the Pallium of two
colours so that they might be recognized and re-
spected when on duty ; and their slaves were to
appear in the Byrrus, if permitted, or the cloak called
a Cucullus. 2 See Tertnllian, De Pallia.
Plate 4.
ORANS, OR PRAYING FIGURE, IN LONG TUNIC
AND PAKNUI.A.
Catacomb of SS. Pietro and Marcellino, Rome. Beginning
of 4th century. (See page 44.)
30 Introductory
century in France l ; in Rome we have no
literary evidence of this until the 8th cen-
tury 2 ; so that it may well be that this use
of the Chasuble was rather later in the
Roman Church, though the mosaics take
us back with certainty to the 6th century.
Regulations naturally, like Creeds, grow
up gradually, as circumstances require
them. Often this was due to inferior
persons using the Ornaments of their
superiors. Thus, about the year 400, the
Council of Laodicaea forbade subdeacons
and readers to wear the Stole a restric-
tion which still exists to-day. But such
regulations were by no means at first the
same in every place : for instance, about
the year 500 the deacons at Aries in
France were allowed to wear the Dalmatic,
but this privilege had already been long
enjoyed by the deacons in Rome. We
1 Braun, p. 156. The Canlp, Report rather under-
estimates the facts in referring only to St. Germanus
of Paris (555-567).
2 Ordo Romanus I.
. Classical Costume 3 1
\
read of their using the Dalmatic as early
as c. 350, and customs are naturally older
than the first casual mention of them ;
indeed Braun considers that this use of
the Dalmatic may date from the 3rd
century.
PART II
ORNAMENTS OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH
IT will be natural to begin our account
o
of the Ornaments of the Ministers
with those which became liturgical vest-
ments during the first six centuries ; and
we must accord the place of honour to the
two which are mentioned in the New Tes-
tament the Albe and the Chasuble. Of
these two the Albe is the most in evidence,
because it was worn by the Jews and other
Orientals as well as by the Greeks and
Romans. It was also probably the first
to have a distinct liturgical use.
33
D
CHAPTER IV
In Latin, Tunica : in Greek, Chiton, Enduma,
'.iu Sticharion.
(Illustrated in Plate 1 2, etc.)
* \ A HE ancient Greek word for Tunica
is Chiton, which is trans-
lated ' Coat ' in the
New Testament. At
first among the Ro-
mans it was a simple
natural -wool gar-
ment without
sleeves, barely
reaching to the
knees. But the
Tunic in Palestine,
and in the East
generally (the Greek Chiton
35
12
36 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
poderes, in Latin Tunica talaris), was a
long garment of linen with sleeves, like
our Albe is at the present day.
This is what we find mentioned in the
Gospels, together with the over-garment
(the Greek Himation ; in Hebrew, Tallitti)
which does not concern us here. Thus
our Lord said . in the Sermon on the
Mount :
" If any man will go to law with thee,
and take away thy coat [chiton = tunic],
let him have thy cloke \bimation= over-
garment] also." J
And at the Crucifixion the soldiers after
they had parted our Lord's Himatia, then
took his Tunic
" Now the tunic [chiton] was without
seam, woven from the top throughout." 2
Augustus, who was Emperor when our
Lord was born, was unusually susceptible
to the cold, and wore at Rome four Tunics,
one over the other ; but in Palestine, where
the climate was hotter, it was regarded as
1 Mt. 5. 40. 2 Joh. 19. 23 R.V. marg.
The Albe 37
a luxury to wear more than one. Thus
our Lord said to the Apostles :
" Provide neither gold nor silver . . .
neither two tunics [chitonas]" l
And St. John Baptist urged his hearers
to equalize their possessions by saying
" He that hath two tunics [cbitonas],
let him impart to him that hath none." 2
When St. John the Evangelist had his
vision of the glorified Saviour, he saw him
clad in a long girded Albe :
"One like unto the Son of Man,
clothed with a garment \_podere 3] down
to the foot, and girt about at the breasts
with a golden girdle." 4
And, as has been already mentioned,5
the angels in the Apocalypse wear Albes
with golden girdles, while the white Tunics
of the redeemed are alluded to more than
once.
This long Tunic of the East was bor-
1 Mt. io. 9, 10, cf. Mk. 6. 9. 2 Lk. 3. 11.
3 i.e. the Chiton poderes, the Latin Tunica talaris.
* Rev. I. 13. s See p. 16.
38 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
rowed by the Romans, and as the Tunica
talaris became common among the upper
classes in the Empire during the 4th
century. But, as we have said, 1 earlier
than this as far back indeed as pictures
have been found the clergy of the Chris-
tian Church are represented in the long
Tunic or Albe.
Ever since, this long Tunic has been
worn by all orders of Christian ministers.
In the West it is called the Albe because
of its white colour : in the East it is the
Stichariori) and is more like our Tunicle,
being made of silk. An illustration of
this will be found in Fig, 21.
The Albe to-day is of white linen, reach-
ing to the feet, and with tight sleeves, worn
over the*" Amice and fastened with the
Girdle. It is worn by all orders of the
clergy under the Eucharistic vestments,
and is also the principal dress of servers,
or those who help the clergy in their
ministration. :
1 See p. 14. '. -
The Albe 39
APPARELS. In Classical times the Albe
was sometimes decorated with' a dark
stripe, called the Clavus, on either side,
like our orphrey (as is seen on the Dal-
matic^ in Plate 10) ; but as the Albe came
to be worn under the Dalmatic, these strips
ceased to be ornamental, and so disappeared.
Afterwards, in the I ith and I2th centuries,
the fashion grew up of putting an orna-
mental border or orphrey right round the
hem, 1 where it would be seen, and round
the wrists. This border soon came to be
reduced to two shorter pieces on the hem,
and one on each wrist ; and thus we have
the Apparels, which are an almost constant
feature on Mediaeval Albes, 2 and are still
used in Spain and in the diocese of Milan,
as well as in the Anglican Communion.
THE GIRDLE. A knotted band was
employed to gird the Tunic in Classical
1 See e.g. the frescoes at S. Clemente, in Rome,
c. 1084.
2 See Plates 8, 22.
Plate 5.
MOSAIC OF ST. AMBROSE
In Albe, Dalmatic, Paenula, and Shoes. Milan, Church of
S. Ambrogio. Put up soon after his death in A.D. 397.
(See page 44.)
The Albe 41
times, and this passed into Church use.
In the Middle Ages the Girdle was often
very richly decorated, two strings or narrow
bands being often fastened to it, so that
these could be tied, while the ends of the
girdle itself hung down uninjured by any
knotting. This form is still used in one
or two Italian dioceses to-day, and is
deservedly praised by Braun. A simple
band is also used ; but the most common
form of Girdle is a tasselled cord of white
linen or hemp, although even in the Roman
Church silk or wool are allowed, and any
kind of Girdle may be colpured.
The Girdle, Zonarion, is also worn in
the Eastern Church.
Plate 5.
MOSAIC OF ST. AMBROSE
In Albe, Dalmatic, Paenula, and Shoes. Milan, Church of
S. Ambrogio. Put up soon after his death in A.D. 397.
(See page 44.)
The Albe 41
times, and this passed into Church use.
In the Middle Ages the Girdle was often
very richly decorated, two strings or narrow
bands being often fastened to it, so that
these could be tied, while the ends of the
girdle itself hung down uninjured by any
knotting. This form is still used in one
O
or two Italian dioceses to-day, and is
deservedly praised by Braun. A simple
band is also used ; but the most common
form of Girdle is a tasselled cord of white
linen or hemp, although even in the Roman
Church silk or wool are allowed, and any
kind of Girdle may be coloured.
The Girdle, Zonarion, is also worn in
the Eastern Church.
42 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
CHAPTER V
^Bt)s Gljasuble
In Latin, Taenula, Amphibalus, Planeta,
Casula :
In Greek, Phaenoles, Phelones, Pbelonion.
(Illustrated in Plates 2-9.)
THE other garment mentioned in the
New Testament is the Paenula or
Chasuble. As we have seen, the Tunic was
the common under-garment, and over it
were worn different kinds of cloaks for
protection against cold and rain. The most
useful overcoat for this pur-
pose was the Paenula of heavy
woollen cloth which fell . all
round the wearer's body
like a large cape. It was
therefore a favourite cloak for
travelling ; and thus it is not surprising
The Chasuble .. 43
that so great a traveller as St. Paul used a
Paenula on his journeys. As it happens,
the Apostle alludes to his Paenula when he
writes and asks Timothy to bring the
cloak which he had left behind him at
Troas :
" The cloke \_phaelonen\ that I left at
Troas with Carpus, bring when thou
comest, and the books, especially the
parchments." T .
Two soldiers will be seen wearing this
c cloke ' on the right hand of Plate 2 ; and
the right hand figure. in Plate 3 is a sailor
who wears it, over what we should now
call an Amice and an Albe.
The Paenula was also usually worn in
classical times by slaves and workmen ;
but for them it was made smaller so as not
to hinder their work ; and was thus rather
different from the large warm overcoat
with which we are concerned.
Within the first three centuries we find
examples of the Paenula in the Catacomb
i . : i
" r 2 Tim. 4. 13.
44 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
pictures, worn simply as an overcoat (as in
Plate 4). In the 4th century, it was very
popular ; but while the small Paenula
was worn by the people, senators and
officials used the large Paenula of a much
richer form. This Paenula now often
called Amphibalus' because of its size
was also worn both out of doors and in
church by the officials of the Church,
bishops, presbyters, and others.
Thus we read that St. Martin (who died
in 397) used to wear the Tunic and Amphi-
balus while celebrating the Eucharist.
And in the earliest monument of a bishop
which we possess, the mosaic of St.
Ambrose in his church at Milan (Plate 5)
the saint is represented in Dalmatic and
Paenula : this mosaic was put up soon
after his death (he also died A.D. 397) and 1
evidently represents him as he appeared in
his life-time.
In the 6th century another name besides
Amphibalus was used to distinguish the
large Paenula. Because it entirely envel-
Plate 6.
Albe, Dalmatic, Paenula,
Pallium, Shoes.
Dalmatics.
MOSAIC OF ARCHBISHOP MAXIMIANUS AND TWO DEACONS.
Ravenna, Church of St. Vitale, first half of sixth century.
(See pages 46, 58, 63, 68.)
44 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
pictures, worn simply as an overcoat (as in
Plate 4). In the 4th century it was very
popular ; but while the small Paenula
was worn by the people, senators and
officials used the large Paenula of a much
richer form. This Paenula now often
called c Amphibalus ' because of its size
was also worn both out of doors and in
church by the officials of the Church,
bishops, presbyters, and others.
Thus we read that St. Martin (who died
in 397) used to wear the Tunic and Amphi-
balus while celebrating the Eucharist.
And in the earliest monument of a bishop
which we possess, the mosaic of St.
Ambrose in his church at Milan (Plate 5)
the saint is represented in Dalmatic and
Paenula : this mosaic was put up soon
after his death (he also died A.D. 397) and
evidently represents him as he appeared in
his life-time.
In the 6th century another name besides
Amphibalus was used to distinguish the
large Paenula. Because it entirely envel-
Plate 6,
Albe, Dalmatic, Paenula,
Pallium, Shoes.
Dalmatics.
MOSAIC OF ARCHBISHOP MAXIMIANUS AND TWO DEACONS.
Ravenna, Church of St. Vitale, first half of sixth century.
(See pages 46, 58, 63, 68.)
46 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
?
opeH the body like a little house, it was
called a Casula which is a diminutive of
casa (a house), just as we might say
{ cottage ' ; and Casula became in English
Chasuble '. Thus St. Germanus, Bishop
of Paris, 555-567, speaks of "the Casula,
as they call the Amphibalus which the
priest wears."
To the same century belong the mosaics
of Ravenna (Plate 6) where the bishop
wears a Chasuble over hi||ipalmatic as a
liturgical vestment. ;^f
But although the Chasuble appears as
the dress of bishops and priests in all the
monuments we know of, it was still worn
also by the laity, though the lay Paenula
was probably smaller and shorter. 1 Thus,
when St. Gregory the Great (540-604)
put up a picture of himself and his parents,
he had himself', ^represented with the
tonsure, and wearing a Dalmatic, a chest-
nut-brown Paenula, and a Pallium ; but
his father was also represented (and per-
1 Wilpert, (fewandung, p. 42.
The Chasuble 47
haps his mother too) in Dalmatic and
Paenula ; and thus the distinctive marks
of the bishop were not the Paenula, but
his Pallium, the Gospel-book in his hand,
and his tonsured head. 1 Indeed the laity
wore some kind of Amphibalus ' down to
the nth century. 2 Nay more they wear
it still at the present day ; for the Spanish
cloak called the Poncho is nothing but a
Paenula, and so is the Scapular which
from very early times has been worn by
monks.
u Even as a church vestment the Chasuble
was not restricted to bishops and priests.
We find it ordered for them in Spain 'by
the Council of Toledo (A.D. 633) ; yet at
Rome in the 8th century, the directions
for service called Ordo Romanus I give the
Paenula for the acolytes (clerks) and sub-
deacons also, and the bishop had the Pal-
1 Vita S. Gregorii, 4, 83, Migne 75, 230.
2 The word Amphibalus in this later time seems
to have been used for the out-door form of the
garment (Braun, p. I53,cf. 158).
48 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
Hum as his distinguishing, mark ; in Ordo V y
the Paenula is mentioned not only for
priests But also for acolytes, and the lower
orders of the ministry ; in Ordo VIII^
while priests, subdeacons, and acolytes
wear it, the Deacons take it off and appear
in their Dalmatics. Nay more at the
present day in Rome, as we have said, the
Chasuble is not restricted to Priests ; for
deacons and subdeacons wear it in the
penitential seasons ; and so they did in
England until the First Prayer Book
restricted the Chasuble to bishops and
priests.
Thus, when Puritans call the Chasuble
a * Romish and sacerdotal vestment ' (words,
by the way, which the earlier Puritans used
to apply to the Surplice indeed to the
scarf and black Gown as well), they do so
in ignprance ; for it is a peculiarity of the
reformed Anglican Church to confine the
Chasuble to the celebrating bishop or
priest.
In the early Middle Ages the ancient
Plate 7.
BISHOP AND CLERGY.
A gth century Ivory now at Rusthall House, Tunbridge Wells.
The Bishop is vested in Albe, Dalmatic (fringed on left side), Paenula
or Chasuble, Pallium : the fringed Clavi or orphreys of his Dalmatic
must not be mistaken for a Stole. He stands by a lectern giving the
Blessing. Above are five Deacons in Dalmatics; below are seven
Chanters in girt Albes and hooded Paenulae. (See pages 48, 86.)
48 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
Hum as his distinguishing mark ; in Ordo V y
the Paenula is mentioned not only for
priests but also for acolytes, and the lower
orders of the ministry ; in Ordo VIII^
while priests, subdeacons, and acolytes
wear it, the Deacons take it off and appear
in their Dalmatics. Nay more at the
present day in Rome, as we have said, the
Chasuble is not restricted to Priests ; for
deacons and subdeacons wear it in the
penitential seasons ; and so they did in
England until the First Prayer Book
restricted the Chasuble to bishops and
priests.
Thus, when Puritans call the Chasuble
a ' Romish and sacerdotal vestment ' (words,
by the way, which the earlier Puritans used
to apply to the Surplice indeed to the
scarf and black Gown as well), they do so
in ignorance ; for it is a peculiarity of the
reformed Anglican Church to confine the
o
Chasuble to the celebrating bishop or
priest.
In the early Middle Ages the ancient
Plate 7,
BISHOP AND CLERGY.
A gth century Ivory now at Rusthall House, Timbridge Wells.
The Bishop is vested in Albe, Dalmatic (fringed on left side),Paemila
or Chasuble, Pallium : the fringed Clavi or orphreys of his Dalmatic
must not be mistaken for a Stole. He stands by a lectern giving the
Blessing. Above are five Deacons in Dalmatics; below are seven
Chanters in girt Albes and hooded Pacnulae. (Sec pages 48, 86.)
E
50 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
circular Chasuble was somewhat reduced,
so that it had the shape
of a bell (Fig. 14) ; then
this Bell-
>chasuble
was cut
14 away a little'
more, till about the I5th cen-
tury it reached the familiar
modern shape (Fig. 16), in which the
reduction has gone rather over far.
This later reduction was mainly
due to the stiffening of the material \ /
and the use of heavily embroidered \ /
orphreys. In the decadence of \U/
the c Rococo ' period it went to l6
extreme lengths, and the Chasuble, once
so graceful and stately, became at last an
ugly little apron shaped like a fiddle. 1
1 Of this degeneration Fr. Braun says : " The
1 6th century did not indeed create the form of ugly
vestment, which in spite of all the means employed
against it, still rules the market ; but it certainly did
break with the traditional shape ... In the i6th
Plate 8.
THE PAENULA IN THE I4TH CENTURY.
Brass showing the Eucharistic Vestments : Amice, Albe,
(Girdle, not seen), Stole, Maniple, and Paenula, now called
the Chasuble. Crondall, Hants, c. 1370. (See pages 50-3).
Plate Q.
A MODERN CHASUBLE.
Worn oven the Amice, Albe, Stole, and Maniple.
(See page 53.)
The Chasuble 53
The Chasuble was, and is, often orna-
mented with a border all round as in
Plates 8, 22, and sometimes with orphreys,
shaped generally as a cross either Y, or
T, or -k or oftener Y as m the Plate op-
posite. '
It is worn over the other Eucharistic
vestments, and may be of any material or
colour, though the colour is generally that
of the season.
In the Eastern Church the Chasuble,
though shortened in front to leave the
arms free, retains the ancient bell-like
shape, and is long and full. Fig. 17,
which is from a Russian book of the
1 8th century, shows the buttons which
clearly were once used to gather up the
century it was on the whole quite tolerable, and
indeed was even dignified in comparison with the
later Chasuble ; but it was no longer the Mediaeval
vestment, 'and the name Q,asula was merely a remi-
niscence a word without meaning. . . By the i yth
century the Chasuble had ceased to be in any sense
a ' Casula ' [huttchen]." Vie lltur^sche Gewandung,
P. 189.
Plate Q.
A MODERN CHASUULE.
Worn over tlic Amice, All)e, Stole, and Maniple.
(See page 53.)
The Chasuble 53
The Chasuble was, and is, often orna-
mented with a border all round as in
Plates 8, 22, and sometimes with orphreys,
shaped generally as a cross either Y, or
T, or -J-, or oftener Y as m the Plate op-
posite. '
It is worn over the other Eucharistic
vestments, and may be of any material or
colour, though the colour is generally that
of the season.
In the Eastern Church the Chasuble,
though shortened in front to leave the
arms free, retains the ancient bell-like
shape, and is long and full. Fig. 17,
which is from a Russian book of the
1 8th century, shows the buttons which
clearly were once used to gather up the
century it was on the whole quite tolerable, and
indeed was even dignified in comparison with the
later Chasuble ; but it was no longer the Mediaeval
vestment, and the name Qasu/a was merely a remi-
niscence a word without meaning. . . By the 1 7th
century the Chasuble had ceased to be in any sense
a ' Casula ' [hiittchen]." T)ie llturglsche Gewandung,
P. 189.
54 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
long folds in the front,
though these buttons are
now given up, and even in
the 1 8th century they were
merely formal, like some
of the buttons on men's
coats to-day. The name for
it is Pheionion which is the
diminutive of Phelones^ the
c cloke' that St. Paul left
at Troas.
The Pallium 55
CHAPTER VI
Pallium
In Latin, Tallium : in Greek, Himation,
Omophorion.
(Illustrated in Plates 6, 7, 13, 22.)
IN the Ravenna mosaic (Plate 6), and con-
spicuously in Fig. 20, will
be noticed a curious stole-
like garment worn over the
shoulders, which has a very
interesting history. It is,
strange as this may seem,
the same as the ancient
Pallium, the robe which is
so familiar to us all, be-
cause in it our Lord and
his Apostles are represented
in sacred art.
56 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
As 1 have already said, 1 it was to philo-
sophers and teachers in classical times
what the academic Gown is to-day with us
a stately garment that was easy to wear.
The Toga was cumbrous, and besides was
a purely Roman dress ; while the Pallium
was cosmopolitan. It thus was probably
often worn by the Apostles, and it certainly
was worn by St. Justin Martyr, who was
killed c. 163 ; for we are told that the Jew,
Trypho, was first attracted to him because
he saw the Saint in the philosopher's robe
and so hoped to learn something from
him. 2
Thus it is that in the Catacomb pictures,
where we find the Toga hardly at all, the
Pallium is from the earliest times the
recognised garment of dignity, and the
usual dress (worn over the Tunic) of
Scriptural figures. Tertullian,3 c. 200,
attacks the Toga as a dress used by bad
men, whereas the Pallium is an 'august
1 See p. 24. 2 Just. Mart., Tryf&o, I.
3 Tertullian, De Pallia, I.
The Pallium 57
garment ' worn by men of learning, and
covering all knowledge within its four
corners. Thus right through Christian
history it has been and still is the peculiarly
sacred dress of Christian art.
It was already in the 2nd century a
garment of honour in the Church. But
how did it come to change its form so
completely ? Wilpert discovered a few
years ago I that this was due to a process
of folding, called in ancient times contabulatto^
by which the Pallium became gradually
narrow like a stole, and indeed the Stole
itself and the Maniple have gone through
the same process.
There is a picture of St. Petronillain the
catacombs (c. 356), wearing a folded but
still broad Pallium over her tunic. The
contabulatW) or folding, began about this
time, but the Pallium was not yet a purely
Church vestment ; for as we have seen, 2
the Senators' officers wore it (A.D. 382)
1 Un fypitdo dl Stona del Uestiario.
2 See p. 28, n. i.
58 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
in two colours over the Paenula. But
because of its honour it became the
distinctive vestment of bishops, and we
soon find it thus mentioned by Isidore of
Pelusium (c. 412) who says that the bishop
wearing the woollen Pallium on his
shoulders is a type of the Good Shepherd
carrying the sheep.
We see it as an episcopal vestment in
Plate 6 and Fig. 20 : but in the Middle
Ages it was still further simplified and was
made circular with a strip hanging down
before and behind, and ornamented with
crosses, as in Plate 22. Thus it appears
on the arms of the Archbishop
of Canterbury ; for it became in
the West the special mark of an
Archbishop. The Pallium was
certainly in lawful use in the
Second Year of Edward VI, since it was
ordered to be given without reference to
the Pope (who had been in the habit of
conferring it) by a law of 1533-4 that is
still on the statute-book. Archbishop
'The Pallium
59
Cranmer drew up a form for blessing the
Pallium, i
In the Eastern Church the Pallium is
worn longer and looser,
having retained its early
form, and is called the
Omophorion. The Rus-
sian Archbishop of
Smolensk lately gave
one to the Archbishop
of York which is a
strip of cloth of silver,
13 ft. 5 in. long by 10
inches broad, bordered
with gold, and ornamented with four
crosses and a star. 2
1 J. Wickham Legg, "The Blessing of the Epis-
copal Ornament called the Pall, Yorkshire Archaeological
Journal, Sept., 1898, Vol. xv., pp. 121-141. ^
2 Ibid.
6o Ornaments of the 'Primitive Church
CHAPTER VII
T&fje tsunide and ^Dalmatic
In Latin ; Tunica^ later^ Tunicella : Dal-
matica or Colobium.
In Greek : Chiton : Dalmatike or Kolobion :
(Illustrated in Plates 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, etc.)
E Tunicle and Dalmatic of Church
JL use have long been practically the
same thing, with no difference except that
the Dalmatic is often the more richly
decorated of the two. This is a pity ; and
we should do well to remove the confusion
by restoring the characteristic big sleeves
of the Dalmatic. As we have seen, 1 the
ancients wore already in the age of
Augustus (B.C. 27-A.D. 14) an Over-tunic
1 See p. 36.
Plate 10.
ORANS IN DALMATIC AND VEIL..
Catacomb of St. Callisto, Rome. Middle of third century.
(See page 62.)
6o Ornaments of the ^Primitive Church
CHAPTER VII
and
In Latin : Tunica, later, Tunicella : Dai-
ma tica or Colobium.
In Greek : Chiton : Dalmatike or Kolobion :
Sa^kos.
(Illustrated in Plates 5, 6, 10, u, 13, etc.)
Tunicle and Dalmatic of Church
JL use have long been practically the
same thing, with no difference except that
the Dalmatic is often the more richly
decorated of the two. This is a pity ; and
we should do well to remove the confusion
by restoring the characteristic big sleeves
of the Dalmatic. As we have seen, 1 the
ancients wore already in the age of
Augustus (B.C. 27-A.D. 14) an Over-tunic
1 See p. 36.
Plate 10.
ORANS IN DALMATIC AND VEIL.
Catacomb of St. Callisto, Rome. Middle of third century.
(See page 62.)
62 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
for warmth and comfort : this corre-
sponds with our Tunicle. In the next
century we read that the Emperor Corn-
modus (fi93) went about publicly in a
Dalmatic : this garment, which had been
introduced from Dalmatia, was simply a
large Tunic with sleeves that were very
broad but a little shorter than those of the
ordinary Over-tunic ; it is well illustrated
in the beautiful figure of a female Orans l
(Plate 10), c. 250 A.D., though in many
examples the sleeves are much larger.
A century later (c. 350) the Dalmatic
was worn in Rome by the Deacons, 2 for
whom it was very suitable because it left
their arms free for serving at the altar and
was at the same time a distinguished and
stately garment ; and these deacons were
great personages in early times a fact to
1 In the Catacombs the spirit of a departed person
is represented on his tomb by an .'Orans' i.e., a
praying figure, with arms outstretched, just as the
priest to-day stretches out his arms when he stands
to offer prayer. 2 See p. 30.
The Tunicle and Dalmatic 63
which our archdeacons still bear witness.
As time went on the Dalmatic became the
distinctive mark of deacons throughout
the West, and bishops wore it everywhere
under the Chasuble, as in the mosaic of
St. Ambrose at Milan, (Plate 5), where
the Saint wears both over the Albe. This
is well illustrated in the 6th century
Ravenna mosaic (Plate 6), where the two
deacons carrying the Gospel-book and the
censer wear Dalmatics (doubtless over
Albes), while the bishop whose tight-
sleeved Albe can be seen has also the
Dalmatic, Chasuble, and Pallium, and
carries a Cross in his hand.
As the deacons enjoyed the privilege of
wearing the Dalmatic, other servants of the
sanctuary had to be content with the less
distinguished Over-tunic, which is now
called the Tunicle, and is still the special
vestment of subdeacons and clerks. There
are instances of this in the 6th century,
and by the 9th the subdeacon's Tunicle
had become general.
Plate ii.
A MODERN DALMATIC.
The Amice, Alb.e, and Girdle are also seen. (See pages 60-6.)
The Tunkle and Dalmatic 65
~>
In the 9th century, some bishops began
to wear the Tunicle as well as the Dalmatic
under the Chasuble a custom which is
illustrated in most Mediaeval effigies of
bishops as characteristic of their full dress
on solemn occasions. 1
The orphreys go back to classical times
(as in Plate 10) when they were called
clavi and were generally purple. 2 These
clavi are found also in the vestments of
the mosaics, as in Plate 6. Later on,
richly decorated orphreys were used, some-
times with apparels between them, as in
Plate 13, and sometimes in the form of
a pillar, as in Plate 39. The edges of
Dalmatics and Tunicles are often fringed ;
and they often have also rich silk tassels,
(as in Plate 13) which represent the laces
used at one time to draw the shoulder-
seams together. This subdeacon's Tunicle
should be distinguished by its compara-
tively narrow sleeves, and it may have less
ornament. The Clerk's Tunicle may be
1 See Chapter XV and Plate 22, 2 See p. 39.
F
Plate II.
- A MODERN DALMATIC.
The Amice, Albe, and Girdle are also seen. (See pages 60-6.)
The Tunic le and Dalmatic 65
In the 9th century, some bishops began
to wear the Tunicle as well as the Dalmatic
under the Chasuble a custom which is
illustrated in most Mediaeval effigies of
bishops as characteristic of their full dress
on solemn occasions. 1
The orphreys go back to classical times
(as in Plate 10) when they were called
clcmi and were generally purple. 2 These
c/avi are found also in the vestments of
the mosaics, as in Plate 6. Later on,
richly decorated orphreys were used, some-
times with apparels between them, as in
Plate 13, and sometimes in the form of
a pillar, as in Plate 39. The edges of
Dalmatics and Tunicles are often fringed ;
and they often have also rich silk tassels,
(as in Plate 13) which represent the laces
used at one time to draw the shoulder-
seams together. This subdeacon's Tunicle
should be distinguished by its compara-
tively narrow sleeves, and it may have less
ornament. The Clerk's Tunicle may be
1 See Chapter XV and Plate 22. 2 See p. 39.
F
66 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
conveniently distinguished from that of
the subdeacon by being somewhat plainer.
It may, for instance, be without orphreys,
as indeed are both Dalmatic and Tunicle
in Plate 40.
Like other Vestments,' the Dalmatic
suffered in the decadence of costume ;
and from being " full of sacred character,
with its noble flowing folds and great full
sleeves," it became " a paltry and pigmy
scapular with wings." l But efforts have
recently been made on the Continent to
improve it.
In the Eastern Church, the Sakkos,
which is a kind of Dalmatic, is worn only
by bishops. An illustration of it will be
found in the preceding chapter, Fig. 20.
The deacon wears the Sticharion as a
Tunicle, and this is illustrated in Fig. 21,
below.
1 Braun, fywandung, p. 282
Buskins and Sandals 67
CHAPTER VIII
ffiuskins and Sandals
In Latin , Udones^ Caligae : Campagi,
Sandales.
(Illustrated in Plates 6, 22.)
/ T A O avoid confusion let us state at once
JL that the odd custom of calling the
episcopal Shoes by the name of Sandals did
not arise till the loth century : we must
remember that they are and always were a
kind of slipper, and that Buskins and
Sandals are merely high sounding names
for stockings and shoes.
Most of us perhaps have hardly looked
upon Shoes as liturgical Ornaments (though
indeed buckled shoes are required of the
clergy upon state occasions) ; but in
ancient times, when men went in sandals
68 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
or barefoot, to have the feet covered was a
mark of distinction, and it is not at all
improbable that Shoes were the earliest of
all such marks in the Church.
Nothing indeed could be more signifi-
cant than the mosaic in Milan of which
Plate 5 shows a part, which provides the
earliest episcopal portraits extant ; for the
two bishops, Ambrose and Maternus, have
Shoes, while the four other saints who
occupy the same mosaic have sandals only.
It would thus appear certain that at least
in the 4th century there was a natural
feeling that the higher ministers of the
Church should not appear with naked feet.
The same instinct led the Emperor and his
court to wear the Campagus, which was thus
quite early a mark of dignity. Justinian
so appears with his courtiers in the 6th
century mosaic at Ravenna, from which
Plate 6 is taken, and here it will be
noticed that the deacons as well as Arch-
bishop Maximian enjoy the honour of
wearing Campagi, which are very distinctly
Buskins and Sandals 69
shown, together with the necessary Udones
or stockings.
That these Shoes were, like many other
Ornaments, at first a mark of general
honour, and not specially distinctive of any
order, is shown by a letter of St. Gregory
the Great, also in the 6th century, to
Bishop John of Syracuse, in which Gregory
points out that the deacons of Catonia
had audaciously assumed Campagi^ a
privilege which had hitherto distinguished
the deacons of Messina alone from all other
deacons in Sicily.
In the Middle Ages, when people
generally covered the feet, bishops enjoyed
still a special equipment of Buskins or
Caligae, and richly ornamented Sandals ' as
the liturgical Shoes have since been called.
In the Roman Church of to-day these San-
dals follow the colour of the season, but
originally they were black, lined and deco-
rated with white leather. The ornamental
Mediaeval form will be noticed on the
ancient bishop's effigies in our Cathedrals.
Plate 12.
THE DEACON'S STOLE.
Worn over Amice and Albe. (See page 74.)
The Stole 7 1
CHAPTER IX
JS6e Stole
In Latin : Orarium, Stola.
In Greek : Orarion, Epitracheliori.
(Illustrated in Plates 12, 41, etc.)
WE have said in Chapter III that the
ancients had to carry or wear their
napkins and handkerchiefs because they had
no pockets. The Orarium or Stole was
originally nothing but a napkin ; and it is
on record that the Emperor Aurelian (A.D.
270-5) gave the people Oraria to wave by
way of applause at the public games, just
as nowadays handkerchiefs are waved.
. ' The Orarium was carried by servants
generally on the left shoulder ; and thus
the deacons, who were the servants of the
Church (diakonos being indeed the Greek
for 'servant') naturally bore on the shoulder
Plate 12,
THE DEACON'S STOLE.
Worn over Amice and Albe. (See page 74.)
The Stole 7 1
CHAPTER IX
tide Stole
In Latin : Orarium^ Stola.
In Greek : Orarion^ Epitrachelion.
(Illustrated in Plates 12, 41, etc.)
WE have said in Chapter III that the
ancients had to carry or wear their
napkins and handkerchiefs because they had
no pockets. The Orarium or Stole was
originally nothing but a napkin ; and it is
on record that the Emperor Aurelian (A.D.
270-5) gave the people Oraria to wave by
way of applause at the public games, just
as nowadays handkerchiefs are waved.
The Orarium was carried by servants
generally on the left shoulder ; and thus
the deacons, who were the servants of the
Church (diakonos being indeed the Greek
for 'servant') naturally bore on the shoulder
72 Ornaments of the Primitive (Jiurch
the strip of linen which they needed in
order to cleanse the vessels at the Holy
Communion. This strip came to be
folded ; and thus lost its usefulness^ and
became a vestment distinctive of the
deacon. In the East this must have
happened before the year 400, for it was
about then that the Council of Laodicea
passed a canon forbidding subdeacons to
wear the Stole ; but in the West the earliest
definite instances of the Stole as a liturgical
vestment are in the 6th century, and come
from Spain and France. 1
The serving.. work of the deacons had
now been 'largely taken over by the sub-
deacons, who therefore used a napkin such
as the deacon's Stole had once been, and
called it a manutergium. :.
This has continued to the present day.
Napkins (called purificators and towels)
are still used : but the Stole, the ancient
folded napkin of the deacon, is still worn
by him and denied to the subdeacon.
1 Braun, p. 578.
; , The Stole 73
And it is still worn over the left shoulder,
as in Plate 12.
Bishops and priests also wore the Stole^
though in rather later times, the earliest
picture of a priestly stole being of the
8th century 1 ; but they wore it (as they
still do) over both shoulders for honour
and'not for service. It was in fact used by
them as a scarf to fill the gap left round
the neck by the Chasuble.
The Stole is thus a long narrow strip of
material, as is well shown in Plates 12, 41 :
its width has varied slighly, but the narrower
Mediaeval form fits naturally round the
neck and hangs more gracefully than the
broader. It seems never to -have been
decorated with three crosses in England :
but was generally ornamented and fringed
at the ends, and often also along its whole
length. ,
It is nowadays crossed in front by priests
when worn over the Albe, but worn
straight by bishops ; and it is a distinctive
1 cf. Braun, p. 576-7, with Wilpert, p. 54.
74 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
vestment for the administration of any
Sacrament. 1 By deacons it is still worn
over the left shoulder, tied as (in Plate
12) under the right arm, or fastened by
the girdle.
In the Eastern Church
the Stole is worn in most
rites by Bishop, Priest,
and Deacon, as in the
West. The deacon's
Stole, the Orarion, either
hangs straight over the
left shoulder, or else has
its ends brought round
over the right shoulder ;
but before his Com-
munion the deacon crosses it, as in Fig. 21.
The priest's and bishop's Stole, which is
called Epitrachetion, is worn as with us,
but the inside edges are joined together
so that it forms an oblong with a hole
left for the head.
1 Thus Plate 41 represents a priest vested for a
Baptism, and not for Mattins or Evensong.
The Maniple or Fanon 75
CHAPTER X
e Maniple or Marion
In Latin : Mappula^ Manipulum.
In Greel^: Encheiron.
(Illustrated in Plates 8, 9, etc.)
THE Mappula, a napkin original worn
over the left arm by servants, became
the Maniple by the same gradual process
of folding as happened with the Pallium
and the Stole. But before it thus de-
veloped into a Church Vestment, it had
already become a mark of honour in the
Roman Empire ; for the consul or praetor
gave the 'sign for races to start in the
circus by waving a Mappula, and thus it
came to be a decoration of consuls and
other high officials.
j6 Ornaments of the Primitive Church
The Maniple seems to have been used
by deacons as a towel when their original
napkins had developed into Stoles ; but we
have clear evidence of its use as a Church
Vestment in the 6th century, if not before.
There was a fashion in the 9th and loth
centuries of carrying it between the fingers
of the left hand ; but by the 1 2th it was
almost always for convenience pushed back
over the left wrist : we find it thus worn
in the monuments of the Middle Ages,
and thus, it is still worn to-day.
It is like the Stole in every respect,
except that it is shorter. The subdeacon,
though he does not wear a Stole, wears
the Maniple at the Eucharist (and is thus
now distinguished from the Clerk, or
Acolyte) ; and so do Bishops, Priests,
and Deacons.
The Maniple is not used in the East,
and must not be identified with the
Spimanikia, which are merely cuffs, like the
wrist apparels of our Albes.
Plate 13.
Copes. Chasuble. Dalmatics. Surplices.
THE ORDINATION OF ST. LAWRENCE. BY FRA
ANGELICO.
Fresco in the Chapel of Nicholas V, Vatican, A.D. 1450-5.
(See pages 65, 93, 129, etc.)
PART III
AFTER THE FIRST Six CENTURIES
WE have hitherto considered the Orna-
ments of the Primitive Church
garments that had become Church Vestments
before the year 600. " I will now describe,
as nearly as possible in historical order,
those robes and insignia that did not
become { Ornaments of the Ministers ' till
after the year 600.
The connecting link between the Primi-
tive and the Later Church is the Cope ;
because, though an every-day dress in the
ist century, it did not become, so far as
we know, an Ornament of the Ministers
till after the First Six Centuries had passed
away. It is thus, in its liturgical use, less
primitive than the Albe, Chasuble, and
other vestments mentioned in Part II.
79
Plate 13.
Copes. Chasuble. Dalmatics. Surplices.
THE ORDINATION 01- ST. LA\VKI<:XCI<:. BY FRA
ANCKI.ICO.
Fresco in the Chapel of Nicholas V, Vatican, A.I). 1450-5.
(See pages 65, 93, 129, etc.)
PART III
AFTER THE FIRST Six CENTURIES
WE have hitherto considered the Orna-
ments of the Primitive Church
garments that had become Church Vestments
before the year 600. I will now describe,
as nearly as possible in historical order,
those robes and insignia that did not
become c Ornaments of the Ministers ' till
after the year 600.
The connecting link between the Primi-
tive and the Later Church is the Cope ;
because, though an every-day dress in the
ist century, it did not become, so far as
we know, an Ornament of the Ministers
till after the First Six Centuries had passed
away. It is thus, in its liturgical use, less
primitive than the Albe, Chasuble, and
other vestments mentioned in Part II.
79
Plate 14.
BRASS SHOWING THE PROCESSIONAL VESTMENTS.
Surplice, Almuce, and Cope. (See pages 93, 129, 134.)
Brass of John Mapilton, 1432, Broadwater, Sussex. G
CHAPTER XI
Islje Qope
In Latin : Lacerna, Byrrus, Ttuviale, Cappa.
(Illustrated in Plates I, 2, 13-16.)
THE Emperor Augustus, as Suetonius
relates, 1 tried to stop the custom,
which was growing among the Romans
even in his time (B.C. 2y-A.D. 14) of giving
up the national Toga in favour of foreign
garments, and he therefore ordered the
Aediles to prevent any one coming into the
Forum or the Circus unless they had taken
off their Lacernae. This garment was thus
a mantle worn often over the Toga : it
was first introduced from Asia by Lucullus
for officers in the army as a protection
against the weather, and was a semi-circular
1 Suet. Aug. 40.
' 83
84 After the First Six (Centuries
garment fastened with a clasp in front ;
but it soon became, as we have seen,
fashionable among Roman citizens, by
whom it was used as a summer overcoat,
a light protection against dust and rain
so light indeed that a slight gust of wind
could lift it from the shoulders. 1 In
Trajan's time it was worn as a mantle by
the Lictors, and is thus shown in Plate 2.
The Byrrus was another form of this
mantle. There was no essential difference
between the Byrrus and the Lacerna 2 ;
but when the Lacerna had become a thin
dust-cloak for summer use, the Byrrus was
thicker and stiffer, and was used in the
winter. 3 Both words are employed to de-
scribe the outer garment which St. Cyprian
laid aside at his martyrdom A.D. 258.4 We
learn that the great St. Augustine, Bishop
of Hippo till 430, wore as an ordinary cloak
what he calls both Lacerna and Byrrus ;
and the passage is so interesting that I will
1 Martial 6, 59. . 2 Wilpert, p. 18.
3 Sulp. Scv. Dialog. I, 21. 4 Seep. 25, n. i.
The Cope 85
quote it : A costly Byrrus had been
offered him, and he replies that though it
may be fitting .to a bishop, " it is not fitting
to Augustine, that is to a poor man, born
of the poor "
" It is not fitting : I ought to have
such a garment as I can give to my
brother if he has one not. Such a one
as a priest can wear, such a one as
a deacon can decently wear, and a sub-
deacon, such will I accept, because I
accept it in common. If anyone gives
me a better one, I shall sell it, as indeed
I am in the habit of doing : so that,
when the garment itself cannot be
common to all, at least the price of it
can, I sell it and give to the poor." 1
But there is not the same certainty about
the development of the Cope as there is
about the Chasuble and the other vest-
ments mentioned in Part II of this Book.
We know that silk Cappae are mentioned
in a Spanish inventory of the 8th century,
1 Aug. Serm. 13.
86 After the First Six (Centuries
and in the 9th this vestment occurs rather
more frequently. By the roth it was
general. 1
It seems that, as the Chasuble became
fine and costly, people adopted some
form of the Lacerna for out-door pro-
cessions as more suitable for protection
against the weather 2 a use to which its
common Latin name of Pluvia/e still bears
witness. Thus a Cloth Cope was used
because it covered the under-vestments
and at the same time left the hands free.
Braun however thinks that this form was
arrived at by cutting open in front a
hooded form of the Chasuble, such as is
worn by the chanters in Plate 7 ; because,
he says, the Lacerna had gone out of use.
Such a transformation of the Chasuble
may have happened in some places, per-
haps in many though there is no evi-
dence that it did. But I think we may
follow Wilpert in deriving the Cope from
the Lacerna or Byrrus ; for, though these
1 Braun, pp. 310-12. 2 Wilpert, p. 45.
The Cope 87
names were dropped, there is no. reason
to suppose that this useful mantle has ever
really disappeared. The Byrrus under the
name of capa is certainly common enough
to-day as the ordinary winter cloak of
Italians, just as in Spain the poncho still
perpetuates the lay Paenula as a common
overcoat.
Is there reason to suppose that this
natural and popular mantle had been
dropped between the 5th and the 8th
century? It would appear not. We find
pictures of the Lacerna in Ravenna and
Rome in the 6th and yth centuries : in
the 6th century mosaic representation of
the Christian Altar at St. Vitale, Ravenna,
Melchizedek wears it ; and in the yth
century mosaic of the same subject at
St. Apollinare in Classe, Melchizedek
presides at the Altar vested in a Lacerna
that is precisely like the liturgical Cope
of 1 5th century pictures ; among other
instances may be mentioned the fresco in
the catacomb of St. Ponziano, Rome, which
88 After the First Six Centuries
belongs to the 6th or 7th century, where
Saints Abdon and Sennan wear similar
Lacernae or Copes. No doubt the words
Lacerna and By rrus were then both obsolete,
but the garment was not ; and already in the
yth century we find the word Cappa appear
as the name of an ordinary mantle. 1 By
the 8th, as we have seen, Cappa appears
as the definite name of the liturgical Cope ;
and in the 9th this garment is called the
Pluviale. 2 There is thus no real break in
the history of this garment, whether we
call it Lacerna, Byrrus, Cappa, or Pluviale.
And Braun himself says that, whether the
ultimate derivation of the Cope be from the
Lacerna or the Paenula, the important
matter is that it comes directly from the
mantle worn in ordinary life by clerics,
and this, he says is beyond question. 3
The Pluviale was then at first a protec-
tive garment the Cloth Cope, in fact, of
Chapter 12. Afterwards it followed the
1 Braun, p. 307. 2 Ibid., pp. 308, 310.
3 Ibid., p. 348.
The Cope 89
example of the Chasuble in becoming rich
and silken ; and the hood became a mere
flap, which could no longer protect the
head. Thus it came to be a general
vestment of splendour, used when the
Chasuble was not worn (as in Processions
and non-Eucharistic rites), and by those
who did not wear the Chasuble, such as the
chanters in choir. It has never been a
distinctively clerical vestment.
In the First Prayer Book the Cope is
given as an alternative to the Chasuble :
and the 24th Canon of 1604 ordered it for
the Eucharistic celebrant in cathedrals.
Because of the First Prayer Book it may
perhaps still be used ,b.y the celebrant.
But it is inconvenient and over-ornate for
this purpose ; and the Intention of the First
Prayer Book is that it should be used for
" Table Prayers," when there is no Com-
munion, as is shown by the rubric about
Table Prayers on Wednesdays and Fri-
days. Mediaeval rubrics also prescribe
the Cope for Table Prayers or Ante-
90 After the First Six Centuries
Communion ; and some Missals order it
for the first part (the Table Prayers part)
of the Mass of the Pre-sanctified on Good
Friday.
This vestment survived the slovenly
days of the i8th century in one or two
English cathedrals, and the old i yth century
Copes of Westminster Abbey are still in
use. Plate 15 shows one of these purple
and silver Copes, which were made for
the Coronation of Charles II. in 1661,
(and thus are of the same age as our
present Prayer Book), and were used at
the Coronation of Queen Victoria. Plate
1 6 shows one of the red Copes made for
the Coronation of our present King : it
will be noticed that in -both the hood
covers the back of the orphrey. But how
infinitely more graceful is the old Cope
than the new !
The Cope is a piece of silk or cloth, cut
in .a semi-circle, with a border or orphrey
(often richly embroidered) along the
straight edge : the round edge is often
Plate 15.
OLD WESTMINSTER COPE.
Purple and Silver, iyth century. (See page 90.)
90 After the First Six (Centuries
Communion ; and some Missals order it
for the first part (the Table Prayers part)
of the Mass of the Pre-sanctified on Good
Friday.
This vestment survived the slovenly
days of the i8th century in one or two
English cathedrals, and the old i yth century
Copes of Westminster Abbey are still in
use. Plate 15 shows one of these purple
and silver Copes, which were made for
the Coronation of Charles II. in 1661,
(and thus are of the same age as our
present Prayer Book), and were used at
the Coronation of Queen Victoria. Plate
1 6 shows one of the red Copes made for
the Coronation of our present King : it
will be noticed that in both the hood
covers the back of the orphrey. But how
infinitely more graceful is the old Cope
than the new !
The Cope is a piece of silk or cloth, cut
in a semi-circle, with a border or orphrey
(often richly embroidered) along the
straight edge : the round edge is often
Plate 15.
Ol.I) WlCSTMIXSTKR Coi'K.
Purple and Silver, 171)1 century. (See page 90.)
Plate 1 6.
MODERN WESTMINSTER COPE.
Red and Gold. Made for the Coronation of Edward VII,
1902. (See page 90.)
The Cope 93
fringed. But this vestment is both . more
comfortable and more beautiful if its stiff-
ness is overcome by curving the orphrey,
as in the picture by Fra Angelico, Plate
13 : a modern example of this shaped
Cope is given in the Frontispiece, where the
orphrey is merely represented by a strip of
gold braid. The flat hood, which varies a
little in shape, is often fringed and gorge-
ously embroidered. Copes are fastened
in front by a clasp or piece of material,
called a morse. These morses are often
richly jewelled, and some of the old ones
are the most exquisite examples of gold-
smith's work.
In the Orthodox Churches of the East,
bishops wear a mantle, the Mandyas^ which
may be classed with the " Other forms of
the Cope " of our next chapter ; but the
liturgical Cope of this chapter is not used.
The Cope-like vestments worn in some
other Eastern Churches seem to be really
forms of the Chasuble.
Plate 1 6.
MODERN WESTMINSTER COI-E.
Red and Gold. Made for the Coronation of Edward VII,
1902. (See page go.)
The Cope 93
fringed. But this vestment is both more
comfortable and more beautiful if its stiff-
ness is overcome by curving the orphrey,
as in the picture by Fra Angelico, Plate
13 : a modern example of this shaped
Cope is given in the Frontispiece, where the
orphrey is merely represented by a strip of
gold braid. The flat hood, which varies a
little in shape, is often fringed and gorge-
ously embroidered. Copes are fastened
in front by a clasp or piece of material,
called a morse. These morses are often
richly jewelled, and some of the old ones
are the most exquisite examples of gold-
smith's work.
In the Orthodox Churches of the East,
bishops wear a mantle, the Mandyas, which
may be classed with the " Other forms of
the Cope " of our next chapter ; but the
liturgical Cope of this chapter is not used.
The Cope-like vestments worn in some
other Eastern Churches seem to be really
forms of the Chasuble.
Plate 17.
CLOTH COPE.
Priest at a funeral in Surplice, black Cloth Cope or Cappa
Nigra, and Square Cap. (See page 95. )
Other Forms of the Cope 95
CHAPTER XII
Gtder Jorms of We Qope
THE CLOTH COPE, OR CAPPA NIGRA
(Illustrated in Plates 17-21.)
IT seems to be established that the Cloth
Cope, called in the Middle Ages
Cappa Nigra or Cap-pa Choralh^ was origin-
ally the same as the black mantle worn by
monks and by clergy out of doors, and
that it was the parent of the silk vestment
known as the Cope, or Pluviale, which
was described in the last chapter.
A black, hooded mantle, shaped like the
Cope,' it was worn over the Surplice in
choir, generally in the cold season between
Michaelmas and Easter, especially in
England and France ; it was also used
for penitential processions. In the
Plate 17.
Cl.OTJI COI'E.
J'riesl at a funeral in Surplice, black Cloth Cope or Cappa
Niyra, and Square Cap. (See page 95.)
Other Forms of the Cope 95
CHAPTER XII
Gtfjer ^orms of tfje Qope
THE CLOTH COPE, OR CAPPA NIGRA
(Illustrated in Plates 17-21.)
IT seems to be established that the Cloth
Cope, called in the Middle Ages
Cappa Nigra or Cappa Choralis, was origin-
ally the same as the black mantle worn by
monks and by clergy out of doors, and
that it was the parent of the silk vestment
known as the Cope, or Pluviale, which
was described in the last chapter.
A black, hooded mantle, shaped like the
Cope, it was worn over the Surplice in
choir, generally in the cold season between
Michaelmas and Easter, especially in
England and France ; it was also used
for penitential processions. In the
96 After the First Six Qenturies
middle of the i6th century the Cloth
Cope passed out of general use as a choir
habit, and has not been revived ; but a
similar hooded cloak, worn in the Middle
Ages by mourners at funerals, 1 continued
to be thus used by mourners well into the
1 9th century. At the present day the
Cloth Cope is being revived as a covering
for the Surplice at funerals, as in Plate 17,
some such protection being urgently
required. For similar reasons it is now
sometimes used in out-door processions,
and for carrying the Sacrament to the
sick.
THE LINCOLN COPE
(Illustrated in Plate 18.)
The Cloth Cope, however, did not pass
entirely away even as a choir habit, since
it has always been retained by the four
head chorister boys at Lincoln Cathedral.
This interesting garment (which has been
1 See e.g. Plate 30 in the Parson's Handbook, 6th ed.
Plate 1 8.
CLOTH COPE OF THE LINCOLN CHORISTERS.
Of black cloth with white orphreys. (See page 96.)
H
96 After the First Six Centuries
middle of the i6th century the Cloth
Cope passed out of general use as a choir
habit, and has not been revived ; but a
similar hooded cloak, worn in the Middle
Ages by mourners at funerals, 1 continued
to be thus used by mourners well into the
1 9th century. At the present day the
Cloth Cope is being revived as a covering
for the Surplice at funerals, as in Plate 17,
some such protection being urgently
required. For similar reasons it is now
sometimes used in out-door processions,
and for carrying the Sacrament to the
sick.
THE LINCOLN COPE
(Illustrated in Plate 18.)
The Cloth Cope, however, did not pass
entirely away even as a choir habit, since
it has always been retained by the four
head chorister boys at Lincoln Cathedral.
This interesting garment (which has been
1 See e.g. Plate 30 in the Parson's Handbook, 6th ed.
Plate 1 8.
CLOTH COPE OF THE LINCOLN CHORISTERS.
Of black cloth with white orphreys. (See page 96.)
H
Plate 19.
THE D.D. COPE, CAMBRIDGE.
Scarlet Cappa Clausa with white fur hood, (See page 99.)
Other Forms of the Cope 99
introduced at Bow Church in London by
the present Rector) at some time or other
developed sleeves and has suffered the
usual economy in fullness, but it remains a
graceful and distinctive habit. Plate 18
shows it as it is worn at Lincoln, of black
cloth with a facing or cloth orphrey of
white.
THE DOCTOR'S COPE
(Illustrated in Plate 19.)
There is some difficulty in making out
the various forms pf Cloth Cope worn in
in the Middle Ages, and Braun considers
the Cap-pa Clausa or Closed Cope to have
been a variant of the garment just described
and to have been worn, like it, in choir as
well as out of doors 1 : but in England at
least so far as our present knowledge goes,
the Cappa Clausa was an out-door dress,
prescribed by Archbishop Stephen Langton
in 1222 for archdeacons, deans, and other
1 Die Lit. Gewandung, pp. 308, 348, 353.
Plate 19.
THE D.D. COPE, CAMBRIDGE.
Scarlet Cappa Clausa with white fur hood, (See page 99.)
Other Forms of the Cope 99
introduced at Bow Church in London by
the present Rector) at some time or other
developed sleeves and has suffered the
usual economy in fullness, but it remains a
graceful and distinctive habit. Plate 18
shows it as it is worn at Lincoln, of black
cloth with a facing or cloth orphrey of
white.
THE DOCTOR'S COPE
(Illustrated in Plate 19.)
There is some difficulty in making out
the various forms of Cloth Cope worn in
in the Middle Ages, and Braun considers
the Cappa Clausa or Closed Cope to have
been a variant of the garment just described
and to have been worn, like it, in choir as
well as out of doors 1 : but in England at
least so far as our present knowledge goes,
the Cappa Clausa was an out-door dress,
prescribed by Archbishop Stephen Langton
in 1222 for archdeacons, deans, and other
1 Die Lit. Gewandung, pp. 308, 348, 353.
Plate 20.
CANON'S MANTLE OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER.
Murrey-red lined with light blue. Worn over a Surplice and
Almuce. (See page 101.)
Other Forms of the Cope 101
dignitaries, 1 and a mark of the doctor of
idivinity in 1 5th century brasses. 2
This Cappa Clausa or Doctor's Cope
has been retained as a University robe and
is still called a Cope. It is also worn by
Bishops in the House of Lords at the
opening of Parliament. It is of scarlet
cloth, closed all round except for a slit to
admit the hands,3 and has a large hood of
white fur : Plate 19 shows it as it is worn
at Cambridge, like all the works of the
modern tailor, of insufficient fullness, but
a brilliant habit for all that.
MANTLES
(Illustrated in Plates 20, -21.)
The Mantle may be described as a Cope
1 Wilkins, Concilia, 1737, I, p. 589.
2 Professor E. C. Clark, Arckteologcal Journal,
Vol. 50. Fr. N. F. Robinson, Transactions of the
St. Paul's Eccksiohgical Society, Vol. 4.
3 Sometimes in the Middle Ages there was no
opening. at all, which has led some to derive this and
all later forms of the Cope from the bell-shaped
Paenula.
Plate 20.
CANON'S MANTLE OF THE ORDER OF THE GARTER.
Murrey-red lined with light blue. Worn over a Surplice and
Almuce. (See page 101.)
Other Forms of the Cope 101
dignitaries, 1 and a mark of the doctor of
divinity in I5th century brasses. 2
This Cap-pa Clama or Doctor's Cope
has been retained as a University robe and
is still called a Cope. It is also worn by
Bishops in the House of Lords at the
opening of Parliament. It is of scarlet
cloth, closed all round except for a slit to
admit the hands,3 and has a large hood of
white fur : Plate 19 shows it as it is worn
at Cambridge, like all the works of the
modern tailor, of insufficient fullness, but
a brilliant habit for all that.
MANTLES
(Illustrated in Plates 20, 21.)
The Mantle may be described as a Cope
1 Wilkins, Concilia, 1737, I, p. 589.
2 Professor E. C. Clark, Archaeological Journal,
Vol. 50. Fr. N. F. Robinson, Transactions of the
St. Paul's Ecclesiological Society, Vol. 4.
3 Sometimes in the Middle Ages there was no
opening at all, which has led some to derive this and
all later forms of the Cope from the bell-shaped
Paenula.
Plate 21.
ROYAL CHAPLAIN'S MANTLE.
Of scarlet silk, lined with white silk : worn over Tippet
(with royal monogram), and Surplice. (See page 103.)
Other Forms of the Cope 103
without hood, orphreys, or morse, open
in front and usually fastened at the neck
with a cord. The Canons' Mantle of the
Order of the Garter^ the habit of the Canons
of Windsor,' appears first in the I4th
century : it is of murrey taffeta ' a
deep crimson silk with a roundel bearing
the cross of St. George on the shoulder, as,
in Plate 20.
, The Royal Chaplains' Mantle is shown
on Plate 2 1 , and would be more graceful
jf it contained twice the amount of material.
A very brilliant garment of scarlet silk,
lined with white, it is worn only on state
occasions.
Plate 21.
ROYAL CHAPLAIN'S MANTLK.
Of scarlet silk, lined with white silk : worn over Tippet
(with royal monogram), and Surplice. (See page 103.)
Other Forms of the Cope 103
without hood, orphreys, or morse, open
in front and usually fastened at the neck
with a cord. The Canons' Mantle of the
Order of the Garter^ the habit of the Canons
of Windsor, appears first in the i/j-th
century : it is of f murrey taffeta ' a
deep crimson silk with a roundel bearing
the cross of St. George on the shoulder, as
in Plate 20.
The Royal Chaplains Mantle is shown
on Plate 21, and would be more graceful
if it contained twice the amount of material.
A very brilliant garment of scarlet silk,
lined with white, it is worn only on state
occasions.
IQ4 After the First Six Centuries
CHAPTER XIII
t9#e Jlmiee
(Illustrated in Plates 3, 8, etc.)
THE Amice (Amictus) is a linen napkip
worn round the neck to keep the
outer vestments from contact with the skin
and to fill up the gap that is necessarily left
by vestments which have an opening large
enough to go over the head. It is thus a
kind of short linen scarf, a neck-cloth
that was indeed part of the secular dress of
ancient times (see Plate 3). By the 8th
century it had become a common Orna-
ment of the Ministers. In the loth
century we read of gold decorations to the
Amice; and in the I2th this decoration
took the form of the strip of material which
is called the apparel (parura), and was
everywhere used during the rest of the
The Amice ^05
Middle Ages (see Plates 8, 22, 40). The
apparel was dropped in Rome, a'bout 1 500,
and later on by other Churches in com-
munion with Rome ; but it is still used
in Spain, in Milan, and in Lyons.
The Amice is, then, an oblong piece of
linen, ornamented with an Apparel of any
harmonious colour. It is folded at the
apparelled edge, put on the head, and tied
by tapes that go round the waist ; then,
after the albe and other vestments are put
on, it is pushed back so that the apparel
forms a kind of collar.
106 After the First Six Centuries
CHAPTER XIV
ffiisdop's Qrozier and Mitre
(Illustrated in the Frontispiece.)
THE CROZIER. Staves or walking-sticks
are no doubt as old as man (or older) ;
but the Crozier or Pastoral Staff (Tlaculus)
is a definite symbol of the bishop's office
as chief pastor : it is in fact a shepherd's
crook more or less ornamented. Men-
tioned first in Spain (4th Council of Toledo,
A.D. 633) as given to a bishop at his con-
secration (together with the Orarium and
Ring), it was apparently for some time
a mere dignified walking-stick used by the
Bishop out of doors, which gradually be-
came an Ornament that was carried in
church, as we find it in the early Middle
Ages.
At first a simple crook, in the later
The* Bishop 's Crazier and Mitre 107
Middle Ages it was heavily ornamented,
as our modern examples mostly. are, and
it had fastened to it a silken kerchief,
the Vexillum. It is carried by the bishop,
or borne before him by his chaplain, if he
is not able to carry it himself.
In the East the bishop's Staff terminates
in two curved branches ending as serpent's
heads, with a cross between them. There
is also a less ceremonial form which has
a simple T-shaped head. :
THE CROSS-STAFF. In addition to his
Crozier an Archbishop is distinguished by
a Cross or Cross-staff, which is really his
private processional cross, borne before him
while he himself carries the Crozier. In
monuments and seals it is often repre-
sented in the hand as a sign of archiepis-
copal rank ; thus, to give a post- Reforma-
tion example, Arthur Ross, Archbishop of
St. Andrews (11704) is represented in his
seal with the Crozier in his right hand and
the Cross-staff in his left. But the Arch-
ro8 After the First Six Centuries
bishop's Cross is as ancient as St. Gregory
the Great (t6o4) who is represented with
one in his left hand.
THE MITRE was at first a helmet of
white linen (called a Frigium^ i.e.
a Phrygian cap, 1 or Tiara] worn
22 in the 8th century by the Roman
pontiff in out-door processions,; but, as
it happens, the earliest illustration is on
a coin of Egbert, Archbishop of York,
734-766 : it next appears in Roman coins
of the loth century. But we have no
reason to suppose that Egbert wore it in
Church, for our bishops are represented as
bare-headed till after the Norman Con-
quest : Archbishop Stigand, for instance,
in the Bayeux tapestry picture of Harold's
Coronation, wears nothing on his head.
By the nth century however it was a
common episcopal ornament, and there-
1 It is interesting to know that the Frigium is the
' Cap of Liberty,' so called because it was worn by
a Roman freedman to cover his newly shaven head.
The Bishop's Crozier and Mitre
after.it became the most distinctive mark
of a bishop (and of some abbots) in the
services of the Church.
The original white linen helmet was
conical. Then the Mitre was made ^~x
round like a full skull-cap, as in the ===
1 1 th-century picture of St. Gregory 23
the Great. 1 Then a better shape was
given by a depression from back
to front. This depression was
24 soon shifted to its present position,
from side to side ; and thus the
Mitre reached its most beautiful
shape (as in the Frontispiece) in the 25
1 2th and i3th centuries. 2 In the later
1 Cotton MS., Claudius d, 3. This is not, as 'is
often stated, a picture of St. Dunstan, who indeed
is represented .kneeling in front. The enthroned
figure is St. Gregory, distinguished by his usual
symbol of the whispering dove.
2 As Braun well says, the Mitre "reached without
doubt its highest point" in the middle of the 1 3th
century : " without arrogance, but full of dignity, it
may be called an ideal pontifical head-dress." Die
Lit. tywndung, p. 474.
i io After the First Six Centuries
Middle Ages it grew .-.taller and less comely.
Its sides were then curved, till in the com-
mon decadence of apparel it reached the
awful form familiar in modern heraldry.
On the t conical mitre shown in the
frescoes at S. Clemente in Rome, (before
1084) there is a fillet : this developed
pendent lappets (infulte\ which became
characteristic, and the fillet itself generally
assumed the form of a JL~shaped orphrey.
The Mitre came to be richly ornamented
and jewelled ; and thus these varieties
became convenient, the fMltra pretiosa^
jewelled ; the ^Mitra aurifrigiata^ without
jewels, used at times of less solemnity ;
and the ZMitra simplex, of plain linen,
used on ordinary days and on penitential
occasions.
In the Greek and Russian Churches the
Mitre has assumed a bulbous form,
and is worn by bishops. In the
Armenian Church it is worn also
2 6 , by. priests ; and archpriests wear
it in Russia,
Some other Episcopal Ornaments 1 1 1
I
CHAPTER XV
Some otfjer Episcopal Ornaments
(Illustrated; in Plate 22.)
N the 6th century, as we see in Plate
6, a bishop wore only the Albe,
Dalmatic, Chasuble, and Pallium ; but in
the Middle Ages he was very much
dressed up on solemn occasions. Over
his cassock he had a tight-sleeved rochet
(and often also a Surplice and Almuce) :
over this the usual Amice, Albe, Stole, and
Maniple. Over these, the Tunicle ; and
over this, the Dalmatic. 1 Over these, a
Chasuble ; % and ,. over the Chasuble the
Archbishop wore his Pallium. On his
head the Bishop wore a Mitre, to which
was added in the 14th century a coif or
skull-cap underneath. He furthermore
carried a Crozier, to which the Archbishop
1 See pp. 63-5. .
Plate 22.
ARCHBISHOP IN FULL PONTIFICALS.
Amice, Albe, Stole, Maniple, Tunicle, Dalmatic, Chasuble,
Pallium, Mitre, Gloves, Ring, Sandals, Cross-staff. Brass' at New
College, Oxford, of Thomas Cranley, Archbishop of Dublin." 1417.
(See Chapters XIV, XV.)
Some other Episcopal Ornaments 113
added a Cross-staff. On his fingers he
wore one or more episcopal Rings ; on
his hands episcopal Gloves ; on his legs
episcopal Buskins or stockings ; and on
his feet episcopal Sandals or shoes. Not
content with this, some bishops in the
Middle Ages wore a kind of breast-plate
called the Rationale (which is still retained
by four bishops on the Continent), of
which there were two distinct. kinds. The
Pectoral Cross has also become an epis-
copal ornament abroad ; while to these the
Pope adds a few others, with which we
are not concerned.
Rings are of course a very ancient
secular ornament ; but the first mention
of a special episcopal Ring is at the yth
century Council of Toledo already refer-
'red to on p. 106. Such a Ring, large
arid distinctive, is worn by our bishops
to-day.
We find a few instances of liturgical
Gloves in the loth century ; and gloves of
linen, wool, or silk were worn by bishops
i
1 14 After the First Six Centuries
in the Middle Ages ; they were often
richly ornamented, and in the 1 4th cen-
tury they began to be worn of the colour
of the season. Bishops also wore special
Buskins and Sandals^ as we have seen in
Chapter viii.
A Pectoral Cross is worn over their short
cassocks (or ' aprons ') by many of our
bishops to-day. This hanging cross of
precious metal is a very distinctive orna-
ment of Eastern prelates, and is worn also
by Roman bishops ; but it is more than
doubtful whether it is lawfully used as
a liturgical Ornament in the English
Church ; for no trace of it can be found
in England at the time referred to by the
Ornaments Rubric. Indeed the only in-
stances are very much earlier, and of these
there are only two (St. Cuthbert, f686, and
St. Alphege, t IOI2 )> with a tm ' r d which
is doubtful. These seem to have been
merely personal ornaments ; and we know
that bishops (and others) did use as early
as the 6th century pectoral crosses as
Some other Episcopal Ornaments 115
private ornaments and reliquaries. As
such, bishops (and others) may doubtless
wear them to-day.
Plate 23.
SERVER'S SLEEVED ROCHET.
(See page 122.)
The Rochet 117
CHAPTER XVI
(Illustrated in Plates 23-27.)
IN times as early as the 9th century we
find traces of a Rochet, a tunic or
camisia worn as a kind of linen cassock
under the other vestments ; and one of the
Canons of King Edgar (959-975) orders
clerics not to come into church without an
{ overslipj' which was the same thing. 1
But the word c Rochet ' (which is a diminu-
tive of roccus '), and the distinctive use of
the garment,, belong to the I2th and I3th
centuries. The Fourth Lateran Council
(1215) ordered prelates to wear the
Rochet in public and in church, unless
1 Brauri, p. 131, Some [Qth century writers
advocated the use of the Stole in choir under the
misapprehension that this overslip was a Stole.
Plate 23.
SERVER'S SLEEVED ROCHET.
(See page 122.)
The Rochet 1 1 7
CHAPTER XVI
^fje fftoefjet
(Illustrated in Plates 23-27.)
IN times as early as the 9th century we
find traces of a Rochet, a tunic or
camisla worn as a kind of linen cassock
under the other vestments ; and one of the
Canons of King Edgar (959-975) orders
clerics not to come into church without an
c overslip,' which was the same thing. 1
But the word ' Rochet ' (which is a diminu-
tive of ( roccus '), and the distinctive use of
the garment, belong to the I2th and I3th
centuries. . The Fourth Lateran Council
(1215) ordered prelates to wear the
Rochet in public and in church, unless
1 Braun, p. 131. Some 191)1 century writers
advocated the use of the Stole in choir under the
misapprehension that this overslip was a Stole.
1 1 8 After the First Six Centuries
they were monks, and thus it became
everywhere a sort of episcopal linen
cassock, worn out of doors and covered
with other vestments in church. It was
therefore (and is still) unlike the surplice
in being a mark of bishops and certain
other privileged persons ; but in this use
it was (and is still) also unlike the Surplice
in being hardly a liturgical vestment at
all, but only a personal mark of distinction,
worn out of doors as part of the official
dress, and covered by liturgical vestments
in service-time.
This use of the Rochet as ordered by
the Fourth Lateran Council has always
been scrupulously adhered to on official
occasions by our post- Reformation bishops,,
even in the i8th century when the use of
the Cope over it was disregarded almost
everywhere. But the garment itself, like
nearly every other Ornament of the
Ministers, suffered a great degradation.
Originally an ungirt and unapparelled
Albe, with even tighter sleeves than the
Plate 24.
BRASS SHOWING A BISHOP'S OUT-DOOR DRESS,
Namely Rochet, Chimere, Tippet. He holds a walking-
stick and a book. This is the brass of Edmund Geste,
Bishop of Salisbury, 1578. Compare with Plate 33.
(See page 121.)
Plate 25.
BISHOP'S ROCHET.
Worn under the Chimere and Sable Tippet.
(See page 121.)
The Rochet ill
Albe_ (because it was worn underneath),
the Rochet in the i6th century began
to develop larger sleeves and a cuff.
In this form it was still a beautiful and
dignified habit, as is shown in Cranmer's
portrait, 1 and it retained some decencies
of proportion in the I7th century ; but
in the i8th century the sleeves developed
into monstrous baloon-like appendages,
fastened round the waist with ribbons, and
decorated with stiff ham-frills. In- this
final stage of degradation the balloon
sleeves were sewn on to the Chimere,
and no longer formed part of the Rochet,
which was worn sleeveless underneath.
In the later half of the I9th century,
however,, an improvement began; and
our bishops are still approaching nearer
to the manly and dignified dress of
Cranmer, modern examples of which are
given in Plates 25 and 33. This is the
official out-door habit of a bishop.
1 Reproduced as Plate 26 in the Parson's Handbook,
6th ed.
Plate 25.
BISHOP'S ROCHET.
Worn under the Chimere and Sable Tippet.
(See page 121.)
The Rochet 1 2 1
Albe (because it was worn underneath),
the Rochet in the i6th century began
to develop larger sleeves and a cuff.
In this form it was still a beautiful and
dignified habit, as is shown in Cranmer's
portrait, 1 and it retained some decencies
of proportion in the lyth century ; but
in the i8th century the sleeves developed
into monstrous baloon-like appendages,
fastened round the waist with ribbons, and
decorated with stiff ham-frills. In this
final stage of degradation the balloon
sleeves were sewn on to the Chimere,
and no longer formed part of the Rochet,
which was worn sleeveless underneath.
In the later half of the i9th century,
however, an improvement began ; and
our bishops are still approaching nearer
to the manly and dignified dress of
Cranmer, modern examples of which are
given in Plates 25 and 33. This is the
official out-door habit of a bishop.
1 Reproduced as Plate 26 in the Parson's Handbook,
6th ed.
122 After the First Six Centuries
The- proper choir habit of a bishop is
shown in the Frontispiece, where it will
be noticed that, following the rubric of
the first Prayer Book, he has a Surplice
over his Rochet, which has indeed a
graceful effect. From what has been
said about the use of the Rochet it will
be seen that this is right also in principle :
none the less, perhaps for convenience,
the Surplice has been omitted by bishops
since the Reformation, and there is good
pre-Reformation precedent for the use
of the Cope over the Rochet without the
Surplice.
SERVERS' ROCHETS. In the Middle
Ages Rochets were often worn by servers,
doubtless because they are more easy to
put on than the Albe (with its Amice and
Girdle) and more convenient for their
ministrations than the wide sleeved
Surplice. Indeed- a Sleeved Rochet is
nothing but an ungirt albe (made
nowadays a little shorter as in Plate 23),
Plate 26.
A SLEEVELESS ROCHET.
(Seepage 125.)
122 After the First Six Centuries
The proper choir habit of a bishop is
shown in the Frontispiece, where it will
be noticed that, following the rubric of
the first Prayer Book, he has a Surplice
over his Rochet, which has indeed a
graceful effect. From what has been
said about the use of the Rochet it will
be seen that this is right also in principle :
none the less, perhaps for convenience,
the Surplice has been omitted by bishops
since the Reformation, and there is good
pre-Reformation precedent for the use
of the Cope over the Rochet without the
Surplice.
SERVERS' ROCHETS. In the Middle
Ages Rochets were often worn by servers,
doubtless because they are more easy to
put on than the Albe (with its Amice and
Girdle) and more convenient for their
ministrations than the wide sleeved
Surplice. Indeed a Sleeved Rochet is
nothing but an ungirt albe (made
nowadays a little shorter as in Plate 23),
Plate 26.
A SLEEVELESS ROCHET.
(See page 125.)
Plate 27.
A WINGED ROCHET.
(See page 125.)
The Rochet 125
and as such it is used both by servers
and choristers on the Continent but not
of course in the form of an under-vest-
ment as it is worn by dignitaries.
But the Sleeveless Rochet (Plate 26) is
even more convenient, and* is withal a
distinctive and comely garment ; and it is
recommended by the Convocation Sub-
committee J as a suitable dress for the
parish clerk. Indeed even when the clerk
and thurifer wear Albes, it may well be
worn by other servers.
A third form of server's Rochet is the
Winged Rochet (Plate 27), which is the
sleeveless form enriched with pendant
strips, so as to be not unlike a Surplice
with the sleeves slit.
. Report, p. 3 1 .
Plate 27.
A WINGED ROCHET.
(See page 125.)
The Rochet 125
and as such it is used both by servers
and choristers on the Continent but not
of course in the form of an under-vest-
ment as it is worn by dignitaries.
But the Sleeveless Rochet (Plate 26) is
even more convenient, and is withal a
distinctive and comely garment ; and it is
recommended by the Convocation Sub-
committee J as a suitable dress for the
parish clerk. Indeed even when the clerk
and thurifer wear Albes, it may well be
worn by other servers.
A third form of server's Rochet is the
Winged Rochet (Plate 27), which is the
sleeveless form enriched with pendant
strips, so as to be not unlike a Surplice
with the sleeves slit.
1 Qon~v. Report, p. 3 1 .
Plate 28.
CHORISTER IN SURPLICE.
Showing also the ruff worn in some cathedrals.
(Seepages 127, 175.)
The Surplice 127
CHAPTER XVII
H)l)e Surplice
(Illustrated in Plates 14, 28, etc.)
who associate the Chasuble
-L with the Dark days of Mediaeval
superstition ' would be surprised if they
studied the matter to learn that, while the
Chasuble is Primitive, it is the Surplice
which springs from the Very heart of the
Middle Ages.
The word { Surplice ' is an Englished
form of Superpelliceum, which means the
garment wor'n c over the fur coakj peHiceum,
or pelisse-. In the colcj churches of the
North, men wore a coat or cassock lined
with furs, and it was difficult to get the
tight-sleeved Albe over this, while an Albe
girt over such a garment would look
bulging and awkward : thus in the I2th
Plale 28.
CHORISTER IN SURPLICE.
Showing also the ruff worn in some cathedral?.
(See pages 127, 175.)
'The Surplice 127
CHAPTER XVII
^9$ Surplice
(Illustrated in Plates 14, 28, etc.)
/ 1pHOSE who associate the Chasuble
J- with the Dark days of Mediaeval
superstition ' would be surprised if they
studied the matter to learn that, while the
Chasuble is Primitive, it is the Surplice
which springs from the very heart of the
Middle Ages.
The word ' Surplice ' is an Englished
form of Superpelliceum, which means the
garment wof n ( over the fur coat, pelliceum y
or pelisse. In the cold churches of the
North, men wore a coat or cassock lined
with furs, and it was difficult to get the
tight-sleeved Albe over this, while an Albe
girt over such a garment would look
bulging and awkward : thus in the I2th
1 2 8 After the First Six Centuries
century, the Superpelliceum, ungirt and
with large sleeves, was used in choir.
We find indeed even in the nth century,
as early as 1050, a few traces of this. But
it is not till the I2th that we have distinct
mention of the Surplice as a liturgical
garment worn by priests : it then gradually
displaced the Albe as a choir habit, being
used also for ministering the Sacraments ;
and it was fully recognised as a liturgical
vestment, though it does not appear as
such in the warmer climate of Rome till
the 1 3th century.
By the I4th century the Surplice was
everywhere established as the essential
choir-habit, the substitute for the Albe in
processions, in the ministration of Sacra-
ments and all rites outside the actual
service of the altar : it was also the official
(though not the only) vestment of the
lower orders of the ministry. Thus it
remains to this day.
It was never of course worn as a
Eucharistic vestment ; but none the less
The Surplice 129
it was often worn by the celebrant under
his Albe and Chasuble, no doubt for
warmth, as for instance, by the monks of
St. Gilbert of Sempringham in 1146.
This is worth remembering, since it used
sometimes to be assumed a few years ago
that the Canons of 1 604 by enforcing the
Surplice excluded the Albe ; whereas the
Surplice can, like the Rochet, be worn
under the Albe.
The shape of the Surplice underwent
some development. In the I2th century
it was as long as the Albe ; and the
sleeves, which reached two hand's-breadths
beyond the fingers, were comparatively
narrow (as is well shown in the I5th
century picture by Fra Angelico, Plate 1 3) ;
but the sleeves increased in size, and in
our 1 4th arid i5th century brasses (as in
Plate 1 4) 'and effigies J they ace as large
as they have been from the 1 6th century 2
to the present day.
1 See e.g. Plate 1 1 in the Parson's Handbook, 6th ed.
2 See e.g. Plate 25, ibid.
K
1 30 After the First Six Centuries
A less auspicious development was the
shortening of the Surplice. In the I4th
century the Surplice was but little
reduced ; in the I5th it was much as it is
to-day in well appointed churches (e.g.
Plates 13, 28). In the i6th it was often
very long 1 ; by the end of that century
however, St. Carlo Borromeo. had to
insist that it must reach " over the
knee and nearly to the middle of the
shin." 2 But the decadence which befel
every kind of costume was not to be
stayed. Lace began to appear on the'
Surplice " an abuse which also happened
to the Albe and the Rochet," says Braun ;
and, speaking of the Synod of Prague
which in 1 605 ordered the Surplice to be
at shortest not more than 10 inches from
the ground, he exclaims significantly :
" Would that the garment had always
1 As in the Plate referred to in note 2 above.
a He was repeating almost exactly a decree of the
Council of Basle (1419-47.)
The Surplice 1 3 1
remained as it ought to be according to
this decree ! " :
As it happened, however, in England
(where indeed the Rochet underwent its
own particular degradation in the period
of decadence) the Surplice remained
unaltered to the present day, except that
it was made to open in front in the age of
the full-bottomed wig.
1 Braun, Die Lit. Gemndimg, p. 147
Plate 29.
CANON IN GREY ALMUCE.
Worn over Surplice and Hood. (See page 136.)
The Almuce 133
CHAPTER XVIII
HtSe Jllmuee
(Illustrated in Plates 14, 29.)
THE Almuce, (Almudum^ Aumuce,
Amess) -always a choir habit of
distinction, worn over the Surplice by
canons and others was originally in the
1 3th century a strip of fur which could
be worn over the head or pushed back
to form an ornament very like the
ordinary hood, but open in front. 1 As
time went on, a round cap (pileus) was
used for covering the head, and so the
Almuce became sometimes a cape (in the
common English type, of the 1 4th, 1 5th,
1 Both ways of wearing it .are well illustrated in
Braun, Bild 169.
Plate, 29.
CANON IN GREY ALMUCE.
Worn over Surplice and Hood. (See page 136.)
The Almuce 133
CHAPTER XVIII
^9/fc Mlmuee
(Illustrated in Plates 14, 29.)
A I A HE Almuce, (Almucmm^ Aumuce,
JL Amess) always a choir habit of
distinction, worn over the Surplice by
canons and others was originally in the
1 3th century a strip of fur which could
be worn over the head or pushed back
to form an ornament very like the
ordinary h'ood, but open in front. 1 As
time went on, a round cap (pi/eus) was
used for covering the head, and so the
Almuce became sometimes a cape (in the
common English type, of the I4th, ifth,
1 Both ways of wearing it are well illustrated in
Braun, Bild 169.
134 After the First Sine Centuries
and 1 6th centuries, the cape had two
narrow elongations in front, as in Plate
14), and sometimes a
shaped scarf, (as here),
while the hood, now a
mere reminiscence, often
disappeared altogether. 1
In many cathedrals abroad
it has been replaced by the
Mozzetta, a cape with
a small hood worn by
cardinals and bishops and
granted by Papal favour to
the canons of many cathedrals : in those
places, (e.g. Amiens, Bayeux, Chartres and
Cologne), where the Almuce is still re-
tained, it is a mere sign of dignity, carried
1 The Report of the Convocation Sub-committee
loses its usual accuracy in this section, (pp. 28-30)
and must therefore be read with caution. The
authors have understood the German Krag as meaning
a cap, and have thus described the very ample fur cape
of Braun's fig. 170, p. 357 as "a good example of the
cap form."
The Almuce I 35
on the arm and laid on the choir-stalls
during service.
Generally of fur, as now, the Almuce
by its quality and colour marked the rank
of the wearer ; indeed the inferior clergy
of some cathedral and collegiate churches
wore it of black stuff or silk. For the
higher orders it was of various furs, lined
sometimes with fur and sometimes with
silk or stuff ; but the highest form of all
was the Grey Almuce of grey squirrels' fur,
which was worn not only by canons but
also by bishops over their Surplices. The
use of the Grey Almuce survived into
Elizabethan times, and was not even then
legally abolished. It should be worn by
cathedral dignitaries to-day if they desire
to have a mark of distinction for indeed
they can have no other. According to the
old custom any cathedral Chapter has the
right to fix the material and colour of its
Almuces. As for shape, now that our
churches are warmed, the Almuce would
naturally assume its more scarf-like form,
136 After the First Six Centuries
as in Plates 20 and 29, which represent an
Almuce actually in use ; though the more
shaped pattern of Fig. 27 would perhaps
also suit our modern requirements, if it
were made a few inches longer.
The Hood 137
CHAPTER XIX
t!)5e Jiood
(Illustrated in Plates 30, 31.)
AKIN to the Almuce, 1 though not
descended from it, is the Hood
(Caputium) an academical garment which
was originally a common article of Mediaeval
attire. To derive it from the Byrrus, as does
the Report of the Sub-committee of Con-
vocation, 2 is entirely fanciful 3 ; and to
conclude that the Cap, Hood, and Tippet
are "three kinds of birrus" is to build 'a
castle of air upon a foundation of shadows.
As a matter of fact the Cap and the
Hood each had its separate origin as an
1 The Almuce was sometimes called afutium.
2 p. 30 of the Report, a section which, as already
stated on p. 134, lacks the precision of this generally-
admirable document.
3 See p. 155, n. 2.
Plate 30.
BRASS SHOWING PRIEST IN GOWN AND HOOD.
The Gown is a sleeveless Tabard: the Hood doubtless
that of a Master of Arts. This is the brass of William
Blakwey, M.A., at Little Wilbraham, Cambs, 1521.
(Seepage 139.)
The Hood 1,39
article of every day costume I ; while the
Byrrus, to which such mysterious fecundity
is attributed, was merely the winter form
of the Lacerna, and is therefore connected
with the Cope or with nothing at all. 2
Hoods were indeed in early use as
appendages to other garments, such as the
.Paenula, Lacerna, and Byrrus, as can be
seen hot only in the 9th century Plate 7,
but also on the soldier's Paenula in the
Arch of Trajan, Plate 2. Monks also had
Hoods attached to their cowls. 3 But the
Hood as a thing in itself was a distinct gar-
ment used in the Middle Ages by monks,
by clergy, and also by laymen, ladies,
and children. This Hood is familiar
in old brasses and pictures ; Plate 30 and
Fig. 28 show it very clearly, while some'
1 See pp. 146, 157.
2 This is clearly shown in Wilpert's yth & 22nd
chapters of Die Gewandung der Christen.
3 The Cowl itself (Cucullus) was not a hood, but a
coat so large that the Scapular was substituted for it in
working hours.
140 After the First Six Centuries
other varieties can be seen in Plate 32.
It is simply a covering for the head
anchored, as it were, by the necessary
prolongation over the shoulders without
which it would neither keep in position on
the head nor protect the back of the neck.
Thus it consists of three parts the hood
proper, the cape which covers the shoulders,
and the poke ' or liripip l by which it could
be grasped and pulled off the head.
floods must have been largely used by
the clergy in choir before the i/j-th century,
because in that century the Cap was
substituted for it by many Synods. 2 It
was all this time a common article of
secular attire : in Chaucer (f 1400) the
Squire's Yeoman, for instance, is " clad in
coat and hood of green," and the Miller
in a "white coat and blue hood." The
clergy also wore Hoods over their Cassocks,
and so did judges, as well as common
%i o *
people, in the I4th and I5th centuries.
Naturally the official Hoods came to
1 See p. 146. 2 See p. 158.
The Hood 141
be distinguished by their material and
lining ; and in this way the special
academic varieties grew up. Professor
Clark 1 tells us that in the I5th century
undergraduates and scholars wore Hoods
unlined, bachelors had their Hoods lined
with badger or with lambswool, while
those of higher university degree were
allowed Gowns as well as Hoods, both
being lined or edged with more expensive
fur, or with silk. The earliest mention of
Hoods " after their degree " in choir seems
to be in the regulations of Archbishop
Chichele for his college of All Souls at
Oxford in 1443, where he required the
fellows who we're graduates to wear over
their surplices furred Hoods, lined with
silk according to their degrees. It was
also in. 1443 that the graduates of King's
College, Cambridge, were ordered to be
present at Evensong, Mattins, and other
Hours, and at Procession and Mass, wear-
ing their Surplices and Hoods lined or
1 Archaeological Journal, vol. 50.
14.2 After the First. Six Centuries
furred. 1 The ordinary parish priest of
the 1 5th century is told by John Myrc 2
to have a Hood over his surplice when he
visits the sick and to pull it over his eyes,
and to do the same with his Hood when
he hears confessions.
It was thus natural that the Hood
should have become so constant a feature
of the modern choir habit, though indeed
it was not ordered but only allowed
("may use ") by the First Prayer Book for
cathedral churches and colleges, and -was
recommended as " seemly " for preachers
everywhere. .. Even Hoods were made
illegal by the Prayer Book of 15.52, which
ordered the " Surplice only" for priests and
deacons, and the Rochet for bishops ; but
this book never had the authority of the
Church, and was suppressed before it had
come into general use. Canon 25 of 1604
orders Hoods in cathedral and collegiate
1 C. Atchley, Trans. St. Paul's Bcclesiological Society,
IV, p. 321.
2 Instructions, (Early English Text Society) p. 27.
Plate 31.
PRIEST IN CHOIR HABIT.
Surplice, Hood, and Tippet. (See page 144.)
1 42 After the First Six Centuries
furred. 1 The ordinary parish priest of
the 1 5th century is told by John Myrc 2
to have a Hood over his surplice when he
visits the sick and to pull it over his eyes,
and to do the same with his Hood when
he hears confessions.
It was thus natural that the Hood
should have become so constant a feature
of the modern choir habit, though indeed
' D
it was not ordered but only allowed
(" may use ") by the First Prayer Book for
cathedral churches and colleges, and was
recommended as " seemly " for preachers
everywhere. Even Hoods were made
illegal by the Prayer Book of 1552, which
ordered the " Surplice only" for priests and
deacons, and the Rochet for bishops ; but
this book never had the authority of the
Church, and was suppressed before it had
come into general use. Canon 25 of 1604
orders Hoods in cathedral and collegiate
1 C. Atchley, Trans. St. Paul's Scc/esio/ogica! Society,
IV, p. 321.
2 Instructions, (Early English Text Society) p. 27.
Plate 31.
PRIEST IN CHOIR HABIT.
Surplice, Hood, and Tippet. (See page 144.)
144 After the First Six Centuries
churches and Canon 58 orders them for all
graduate ministers, while Canon 74 orders
Hoods or Tippets as the outdoor dress of
graduate ministers over the Gown.
The Ornaments Rubic of our present
Prayer Book (1662) takes us back to
1 548-9, and thus leaves a greater liberty as
to the Hood ; but custom when it is not
contrary to law has decisive weight, and
the Hood should be used as part of the
normal choir-habit of graduates.
The Hood, though made in one piece
and put on over the head, had necessarily,
as we have seen, a short cape, as in Plate
30. Slight alterations of the cut how-
ever in modern times gradually lessened
the cape ; and when the wearing of wigs
made a large opening necessary, the Hood
came to draggle down the back and ceased
to be a Hood in anything but name. It
is now steadily recovering its proper shape,
and is already often seen in the form
illustrated on Plate 31.
Doctors generally have scarlet Hoods,
The Hood 145
Masters and Bachelors black ones, though
the degrees of music have Hoods of light
blue, cherry, lilac, buff, and white.
The linings vary according to the
University and the degree, as will be seen
by the following common examples :
Scarlet cloth, black silk lining : D.D. Oxford,
Dublin.
Scarlet cloth, pink lining : Cambridge D.D.,
and LL.D. ; Oxford D.C.L.
Black silk, black silk lining : B.D. Oxford, Cam-
bridge, Dublin, Durham.
Black silk, crimson silk lining : M.A. Oxford,
St. Andrews.
Black silk, white silk lining : M.A. Cambridge,
Aberdeen, Edinburgh.
. Black silk, blue silk lining : Dublin M.A.
Black silk, brown silk lining : London M.A.
Black stuff, white fur border : B.A. Oxford,
Cambridge, Dublin, Durham.
\ ' .
/ In the above examples, which are only
a few taken from the older Universities,
there is generally some minor distinction
when the colours of different Universities
are the same.
146 After the First Six Centuries
CHAPTER XX
tippet or Searf
(Illustrated in Plates 25, 31, etc.)
Tippet (Linpipiurri) is in its
JL origin part of the Hood, so that to
wear them together is not to wear two
forms of the Hood, but to wear
the Hood in two parts. Curiously
enough, indeed, the Tippet is none
other than the Liripip, already re-
ferred to on p. 140, which hung
down from the back of the Hood ;
this appendage (the Liripip, Typet,
Poke, Tipetum^ Cornutum for it
as was called by all those name's)
was much lengthened in the I4th century,
so that Chaucer describes the Friar as
carrying his knives and pins " to give
faire wives " in the " poke " of his
Hood. A Constitution of Archbishop
The Tippet or Scarf
Bourchier, 1 1463, forbidding undergrad-
uates the use of " Liripips or Typetts "
round the neck, shows that the trailing
Liripip of the Hood had then become a
mark of dignity, and was wound scarf-wise
round the neck. Fashion had, at this
time, turned the Hood into a kind of
turban, 2 wound round the
head, with its Liripip pro-
jecting ; then fashion de-
creed a further step, and
the Hood was represented
by a padded roll of cloth
fitting the head, from
which emerged the two
ends of a long scarf-like
Tippet. When this pic-
turesque hat was worn on
1 Wilkins, Concilia, (ed 1737), III. 580,586.
2 But the Hood was still worn as well in its
original form on the shoulders ; thus Bourchier
mentions as a mark of distinction "Hoods, with
short liripips, commonly called Tippets," as well as
the " little hats with Liripips," worn round the neck.
148 After the First Six Centuries
the head, one end of the scarf fell to the
shoulder, or nearly to it ; the other end
was much longer, and hung down in front
nearly to the ground, 1 or was twisted
round the neck as in Fig. 29.
, When not worn on the head, it
was thrown over one shoulder as
a scarf (Figs. 30, 34) ; after the ring
had disappeared, the Tippet was
still worn in this neglige manner,
as is shown on the kneeling
figure in Plate 40. Examples
also occur of a short Tippet, worn
over both shoulders,
but doubled, and fast-
ened at the doubled end by a
/ ///
rosette to the front of the left (JU,
r~Ti
31
1 It is thus shown on a priest in three miniatures
of the. British Museum MS., Harl. 4425, of which
two are reproduced by Fr. Robinson in the Transac-
tions of the St. "Paul's Scclesiological Society, Vol. V,
Part I. Examples of this head-gear, worn with
slight variations, are very common in I5th century
art.
The Tippet or Scarf 149
shoulder. This Tippet has been oddly
supposed by one writer to be a chalice veil
in the brass of John Yslyngton (Fig. 33,
p. 158) ; it is of course nothing
of the sort. . Fig. 32 shows the
same doubled form of the Tippet
worn more loosely and without a
rosette.
In the 1 6th century we find the Tippet
worn long over both shoulders, as at the
present day. 1 Bishops wore it then out
of doors over the Chimere, lined with
sable fur, as in the modern portrait, Plate
25. Priests wore it, as they still do, of
black silk only. Like other garments
before it, the Tippet gradually passed into
use in the services of the Church, the
earliest mention of this being in 1549 at
St. Paul's Cathedral, when the petty canons
took to wearing, instead of their Almuces,
"Tippets like other priests." 2
1 e.g., in the portrait of Archbishop Warham,
1527, and of Bishop Fox, who died in 1528.
2 Wriothesley, Chronicle, II. 14.
1 50 After the First Six- Centuries
The Canons of 1 604 order the silk
Tippet (which in the Latin version of these
Canons is still called Liripipium) as part
of the out-door dress of graduate priests
and deacons over the gown, and allow non-
graduate ministers to wear over the sur-
plice in church a " decent Tippet of black,
so it be not silk."
The Tippet is a plain strip, which is folded
double, but should not be pleated at the
neck of black silk for graduates, of stuff
for non-graduates. Dignitaries should
wear the Almuce in choir ; and this applies
to bishops also, for their "Tippet of
Sables " is worn only with the Rochet and
Chimere not with their proper choir
habit. Ordinary priests and deacons wear
the Tippet both in choir over the surplice
(Plate 31), and out of cjoors over the
gown as in Plates 34-6.
Plate 32.
THE ARRIVAL OF ST. URSULA. BY CARPACCIO,
c. 1500.
Picture in the Academy at Venice. Showing very
sumptuous Copes, the late form of Mitre, Gowns, Hoods,
and Caps. (See page 140, etc.)
PART IV
OUT-DOOR COSTUME
A LTHOUGH such garments as the
JL\ Chimere and Gown are riot really
Ornaments of the Ministers, yet they are
included for convenience in this book
partly because the reader may care to
know something of the costume which the
clergy are ordered to wear in the streets,
and partly because it has always been
lawful for any minister to preach in his
out-door habit, and therefore the Chimere
and Gown may be seen in the most law-
abiding churches.
We will begin with the Cap, because it
forms a bridge between Parts III and IV.
It is not a liturgical Ornament even in
the Roman Communion, and its square
form is in the Anglican Communion asso-
ciated with out-door use, but as a round
coif it is worn in church by those who need
such protection.
Plate 32.
THE ARRIVAL OF ST. URSULA. BY CARPACCIO,
c. 1500.
Picture in the Academy at Venice. Showing very
sumptuous Copes, the late form of Mitre, Gowns, Hoods,
and Caps. (See page 140, etc.)
PART IV
OUT-DOOR COSTUME
A LTHOUGH such garments as the
JL\. Chimere and Gown are not really
Ornaments of the Ministers, yet they are
included for convenience in this book
partly because the reader may care to
know something of the costume which the
clergy are ordered to wear in the streets,
and partly because it has always been
lawful for any minister to preach in his
out-door habit, and therefore the Chimere
and Gown may be seen in the most law-
abiding churches.
We will begin with the Cap, because it
forms a bridge between Parts III and IV.
It is not a liturgical Ornament even in
the Roman Communion, and its square
form is in the Anglican Communion asso-
ciated with out-door use, but as a round
coif it is worn in church by those who need
such protection.
153
CHAPTER XXI
19/fc Square Qap
(Illustrated in Plates 17, 25, 33.)
TUST as the Hood was originally a
J i r J
common article or attire, so was
the Cap but a development of a simple
secular head-dress. It did not originate
in the mediaeval Almuce, 1 still less in
the ancient Byrrus, for the word Biretum 2
was a later alternative to the earlier name
Pileus, by which the Cap was called in the
1 2th century.
Such a round cap or coif can be traced
indeed very far back ; for although the
1 See p. 134, n. I.
2 The etymology of Biretum is doubtful. Prof.
Clarke (Archaeological Journal, Vol. 50) inclines to the
belief that it comes from a word, birrus, meaning a
coarse stuff. The Byrrus, on the other hand comes
from the Greek purros, flame-coloured or ruddy.
1 155
Plate 33.
BISHOP IN OUT-DOOR DRESS.
Rochet, Chimere, Sable Tippet, black velvet Square Cap.
(See pages 121, 160, 162).
The Square Cap 157
ancients went bare-headed, they w6re caps
sometimes. Thus, for example there are
two^pictures in the catacombs of fosson -
the men who excavated these great laby-
rinths in the Pileus which doubtless; they
wore as a protection during their work;
underground. Such a cap of felt, leather
or wool is sometimes mentioned : there
is a letter, for instance, by St. Jerome to
Paulinus, Bishop of Antioch, 1 wherein
the saint jokingly accepts the present of
a woolen pikolus^ or little cap, " for the
warming of my old head."
Here then we have the pileus as a com-
fortable and unobtrusive cap, worn by
anybody out of doors. Everyone who
has looked at the Old Masters knows how
common this round cap is in Mediaeval
pictures. It was in fact a lay garment,
and as such it is described by the .Synod
of Bergamo in 1311, which orders the
clergy to wear " Bireta on their heads after
the manner of laymen." There was
I oS. Jerome, Ep. 85. .
Plate 33.
BISHOP IN OUT-DOOR DRESS.
Rochet, Chimere, Sable Tippet, black velvet Square Cap.
(See pages 121, 160, 162).
'The Square Cap 157
ancients went bare-headed, they wore caps
sometimes. Thus, for example there are
two^pictures in the catacombs of fossors
the men who excavated these great laby-
rinths in the Pileus which doubtless they
wore as a protection during their work
underground. Such a cap of felt, leather
or wool is sometimes mentioned : there
is a letter, for instance, by St. Jerome to
Paulinus, Bishop of Antioch, 1 wherein
the saint jokingly accepts the present of
a woolen pileolus, or little cap, " for the
warming of my old head."
Here then we have the pileus as a com-
fortable and unobtrusive cap, worn by
anybody out of doors. Everyone who
has looked at the Old Masters knows how
common this round cap is in Mediaeval
pictures. It was in fact a lay garment,
and as such it is described by the Synod
of Bergamo in 1311, which orders the
clergy to wear " Bireta on their heads after
the manner of laymen." There was
T cS. Jerome, Ep. 85.
158 Out-door Costume
evidently a movement in the I4th century,
both in England and elsewhere, to make
the clergy drop the use of c hoods or
monstrous capes ' on their heads in choir,
and instead to be bare-headed or to wear
only this round cap. 1
But the round Cap gradually
became square. In the I5th cen-
tury it increased slightly in size,
and we find often a point or
button at the point where the
seams would meet at the top an
obvious convenience for taking it
off. As early as about 1 500 a
slight pinch in front sometimes appears,
and in the first half of the i6th century
this developed into distinct ridges along
the cross-seams (again an obvious con-
venience for putting it on or off), and
the cross-seams came to be looked upon
as symbolic of the clergy. 2 Thus the
1 Braun, p. 511.
2 Some English writers have attempted to allocate
different shapes of cap to various ranks of the clergy ;
'The Square Cap 159
round Cap became square, reaching its
best development in the middle of the
1 6th century, as we see it in the famous
portrait of Cranmer.
The Square Cap was immensely dis-
liked by the Puritans, but nevertheless was
enforced during the reign of Elizabeth,
and by the 74th Canon of 1604, as the
out-door head-dress of the clergy, the
older Coif or round skull-cap being
ordered by Canon 1 8 for use in church by
any man who suffers from the c infirmity '
of baldness. This COIF, by the way, had
had a new lease of life given to it in the
later Middle Ages (just as the Square
Cap was beginning to assume a distinct
shape), when, owing to the increasing size
and discomfort of the Mitre, a little Pileus,
called PileoluS) was worn as a kind of buffer
but this is somewhat precarious in the present state of
our knowledge, and the slight variations may "perhaps
all be attributed to differences of place and date, such
as can be illustrated by a comparison of Braun p. 5 1 3
with our English examples.
160 Out-door Costume
between the Mitre and the head. The
Coif or Pileolus is still used in the Roman
Church, of white by the Pope, of red by
the Cardinals, of purple by bishops, and of
black by other clergy. With us it is
generally black ; but Archbishop Laud's
skull-cap, (preserved at St. John's College,
Oxford) is red.
The Square Cap, however, is tradi-
tionally black with us of velvet for
bishops and doctors (as in Plate 33), and
of cloth for other clergy, as in Plate 1.7.
Like other garments, it degenerated after
the Reformation, reaching the various
forms of the modern Birretta abroad ;
while in England it gradually flattened out
at the top, becoming first a kind of square
Tam-o'-shanter, and then a mere board
without any cross-seams, as in the College
Cap of to-day. 1 The button had become
a tuft in the I7th century, and by the I9.th
the tuft had become a tassel. Latterly the
1 I follow here Prof. Clark in Vol. 61 of the
Archceological Journal.
The Square Cap 161
Square Cap in its proper shape (Plate 25),
which is far more convenient as well as
more beautiful, has been revived amongst
us.
M
1 62 Out-door Costume
T
CHAPTER XXII
IH&e Qfjimere
'(Illustrated in Plate 33.)
HE Chimere (Chimera^ etc.) is an over-
coat, made like a sleeveless cassock
open in front, and used since the I4th cen-
tury in England, Italy, and elsewhere. It
was worn by bishops over their Rochets
before the Reformation as their out-door
habit, even when they went on horseback :
it is part of the episcopal walking-dress
which the bishops are warned not to c in-
termit ' by the 74th Canon of 1 604 ; and it
is always used by them as their Court-dress
and in the House of Lords. 1 It has also
been worn by Post-Reformation bishops
as a liturgical vestment, but as this has
been done in opposition to the Law, which
1 With the exception mentioned on p. 101.
The Chimere 163
through the First Prayer Book orders the
Albe or Surplice, not the Chimere, over
the Rochet, together with the Vestment or
Cope, it cannot claim to have the author-
ity of a legitimate custom : nor has it
ever been sanctioned for the only other
pronouncement on the subject that of
the Canons of 1604 orders the Cope, and
not the Chimere, to be worn by the
principal minister at the Holy Com-
munion in Cathedral churches.
It is true that the Primitive vestments,
the Chasuble, Dalmatic, etc., were also once
out-door garments, but their transference
to church use has every legal sanction.
The liturgical use of the episcopal over-
coat, the Chimere, on the contrary, has no
authority whatever, and can only be justi-
fied on the assumption that every bishop is
a law unto himself. The lawful use of the
Chimere is that the bishop should go to
church wearing it over his Rochet, and
should take it off in the vestry, just as the
priest takes off his gown. But, since the
Plate 34.
PRIEST IN OUT-DOOR DRESS.
Priest's Gown and Tippet : a felt hat substituted in this
case for the canonical Square Cap. (See page 171.)
The Cbimere 165
out-door habit may be used for preaching,
a bishop ; has every right to preach in his
Chimere if. he pleases, just as a priest or
deacon may preach in his gown; and
possibly, if not actually officiating, 1 ; a
bishop may be justified in assisting at
Mattins or Evensong in his Chimere.
The Chimere is generally either black
or scarlet, though before the Reformation
it was sometimes of other colours. The
Tippet 2 is worn with the Chimere, but to
this some bishops in the last fifty years
have mistakenly added the hood. At the
present day bishops wear on special occa-
sions a scarlet Chimere over the Rochet,
and a scarlet Cassock under it. The
Chimere has been somewhat narrowed ;
but it is easily made graceful, and when
thus worn with a well-shaped Rochet (as in
1 He is ordered by the First Prayer Book, which
is law as to all Ornaments, whenever he executes any
public ministration to ' have upon him, beside his
rochet, a surplice or albe, and a cope or vestment.'
2 See p. 149.
Plate 34.
PRIEST IN OUT-DOOR DRESS.
Priest's Gown and Tippet : a felt hat substituted in this
case for the canonical Square Cap. (See page 171.)
I'he Chimere 165
out-door habit may be used for preaching,
a bishop has every right to preach in his
Chimere if he pleases, just as a priest or
deacon may preach in his gown ; and
possibly, if not actually officiating, 1 a
bishop may be justified in assisting at
Mattins or Evensong in his Chimere.
The Chimere is generally either black
or scarlet, though before the Reformation
it was sometimes of other colours. The
Tippet 2 is worn with the Chimere, but to
this some bishops in the last fifty years
have mistakenly added the hood. At the
present day bishops wear on special occa-
sions a scarlet Chimere over the Rochet,
and a scarlet Cassock under it. The
Chimere has been somewhat narrowed ;
but it is easily made graceful, and when
thus worn with a well-shaped Rochet (as in
1 He is ordered by the First Prayer Book, which
is law as to all Ornaments, whenever he executes any
public ministration to ' have upon him, beside his
rochet, a surplice or albe, and a cope or vestment.'
2 See p. 149.
1 66 Out-door Qostume
Plates 25, 33), it is far removed from the
very ugly { magpie' dress that characterised
the 1 8th and I9th centuries. Nothing
could be better than the Rochet, Chimere,
and Tippet of Sables in the portrait of
Cranmer at the National Portrait Gallery.
and Gown 1 6 7
CHAPTER XXIII
(SassoeR and own
(Illustrated in Plates 34-6.)
Cassock, though it is always
-L worn in Church, is not a liturgical
garment not an Ornament of
the Ministers but is simply the
ordinary out-door dress of the
clergy, retained, with the clothes
worn under it, in the services of
the Church. We find it in pic-
tures and effigies of the Middle
Ages, when it was a common
article of lay attire, familiar to us
all in pictures, for instance, of
Dante who died in 1321. In 34
earlier times the question of this under-
garment is of little importance ; because
1 68 Out-door Costume
the Albe, which was worn for all services,
reached of course to the feet ; but, as we
have seen, a linen { over-slip ' or Rochet
was worn under the Albe as early as the
9th century.
In later Mediaeval times we find many
pictures of the Cassock (of various colours),
worn not only under the Surplice and other
vestments in church, but also worn by the
clergy out of doors with the Hood (as in
Plate 30), and sometimes with the Tippet.
This Cassock was like that still worn by
the Blue-coat boys, and appears to have
been often girt in the same, way with a
leather belt. It has come down to us
a double breasted garment girt by a short
band of cloth or silk called the Cincture ;
and when the other clergy dropped its use
out of doors, the bishops, deans, and arch-
deacons, retained it in a shortened form as
the c Apron.'
But the Cassock was not given up out
of doors till the I9th century. By the
74th Canon of 1604 ^ was maintained
Plate 35.
PRIEST IN ACADEMICAL DRESS.
Master's Gown, Tippet, Bands, and College Gap.
(Seepage 173.)
1 68 Out-door Costume
the Albe, which was worn for all services,
reached of course to the feet ; but, as we
have seen, a linen over-slip ' or Rochet
was worn under the Albe as early as the
9th century.
In later Mediasval times we find many
pictures of the Cassock (of various colours),
worn not only under the Surplice and other
vestments in church, but also worn by the
clergy out of doors with the Hood (as in
Plate 30), and sometimes with the Tippet.
This Cassock was like that still worn by
the Blue-coat boys, and appears to have
been often girt in the same way with a
leather belt. It has come down to us
a double breasted garment girt by a short
band of cloth or silk called the Cincture ;
and when the other clergy dropped its use
out of doors, the bishops, deans, and arch-
deacons, retained it in a shortened form as
the ' Apron.'
But the Cassock was not given up out
of doors till the I9th century. By the
74th Canon of 1604 it was maintained
Plate 35.
PRIEST IN ACADEMICAL DRESS.
Master's Gown, Tippet, Bands, and College Cap.
(See page 173.)
Plate 36.
PRIEST IN COURT DRESS.
Silk Priest's Gown, Tippet, Bands, Chapeau, and buckled
Shoes. (See page 171.)
and Gown 171
with the Gown, Hood or Tippet, and
Square Cap, as the official walking dress of
the clergy : and it was still universal in the
1 8th century the Roman Catholic clergy
being' then as now forbidden by law to
wear the Cassock in the streets, so as to
prevent their being mistaken for Anglican
priests. At that time the clergy used the
ordinary hat of the day instead of the
Square Cap a custom which is still often
followed now as being less conspicuous
(e.g. Plate 34). The hat of the i8th cen-
tury was three-cornered ; and this, under
the curious name of the Chapeau, is still"
required when priests or deacons appear at
Court. A priest attired in Court dress
Cassock, Gown, Tippet, Bands, Chapeau,
and buckled Shoes is shown in Plate 36.
Thus the out-door habit survived. In
1810 it was still in common use in the
streets. But by the reign of Queen
Victoria it was only seen at Court, and in
the pulpit : old fashioned clergy still wore
it occasionally on the way to church, and
Plate 36.
PRIEST IN COURT DRESS.
Silk Priest's Gown, Tippet, Bands, Chapeau, and buckled
Shoes. (See page 171.)
and Gown 1 7 1
with the Gown, Hood or Tippet, and
Square Cap, as the official walking dress of
the clergy : and it was still universal in the
1 8th century the Roman Catholic clergy
being then as now forbidden by law to
wear the Cassock in the streets, so as to
prevent their being mistaken for Anglican
priests. At that time the clergy used the
ordinary hat of the day instead of the
Square Cap a custom which is still often
followed now as being less conspicuous
(e.g. Plate 34). The hat of the i8th cen-
tury was three-cornered ; and this, under
the curious name of the Chapeau, is still
required when priests or deacons appear at
Court. A priest attired in Court dress
Cassock, Gown, Tippet, Bands, Chapeau,
and buckled Shoes is shown in Plate 36.
Thus the out-door habit survived. In
1810 it was still in common use in the
streets. But by the reign of Queen
Victoria it was only seen at Court, and in
the pulpit : old fashioned clergy still wore
it occasionally on the way to church, and
172 Out-door Costume
sat for their portraits in it : in the ancient
University towns alone the College Cap
and Gown, sometimes with the Cassock,
continued to be worn in the streets, but
the Cap and Gown in their usual academic
forms have ceased to be ecclesiastical.
Only within quite recent years has the use
of the canonical habit been revived out-
side the older University towns : so that
the honour of this restoration, now steadily
progressing, belongs to the 2Oth century.
There are few garments more beautiful
and full of dignity than the Priest's Gown,
worn with the Cassock, Tippet, and Square
Cap, or even (as a time-honoured com-
promise) with a less distinctive head-gear
as in Plate 34. The Priests' Gown is also 1
by far the most graceful and convenient
dress for the preacher, if it does not
involve a further change of attire, as it
would when he is also acting as one of the
ministers at the Eucharist.
The Priest's Gown of Canon 74 is
shown in Plate 34 ; a later and less
Gown 173
comely form in Plate 36. The Cam-
bridge M.A. gown appears with the
Tippet and the Bands (a non-liturgical
ornament still required by custom on some
occasions) on Plate 35. There are many
other forms of Gown, such as those worn
by Doctors of various sciences, Bachelors,
and Undergraduates at the Universities,
foundation scholars in public schools, and
choir-boys, varying in shape, colour,
material, and ornament ; but the most
familiar in church is the velvet-trimmed
gown of the Verger, which attains a
specially elaborate form in that of the
Sergeant of the Chapel Royal, Plate 37.
Gowns come |o us from the later Middle
Ages ; and the Priest's Gown so far from
having anything to do with Geneva: was
as bitterly opposed by the Puritans as the
Cope or Surplice. The identification of
the various Mediaeval forms of the Gown,
the Tabard, fappa Qlausa^ and such like,
is too intricate and uncertain to be
attempted here.
Plate 37.
THE SERGEANT OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL.
In an ornate form of Verger's Gown, holding his Verge
or Mace. (See page I73-)
^Additional Items 175
Two LOCAL CUSTOMS
This may be the place to mention two
local customs which have a historic interest.
At York and Salisbury and one or two
other cathedral churches, the boy choristers
wear a ruff attached to their cassocks, as
in Plate 28. At St. James' Palace the
choristers "the children of the Chapel
Royal " wear a curious and very brilliant
choir-habit, (Plate 38), consisting of a
scarlet and gold coat, with ruffs at the
wrists, worn with bands and with the
College Cap, and over scarlet knee-
breeches and black stockings.
WANDS AND MACES
Our list of personal Ornaments would
perhaps hardly be complete if we omitted
all mention of the Verges or Maces,
Staves or Wands, which are used by those
who make the way for processions, whether
they be churchwardens or vergers. They
are as distinctive of these important church
Plate 37.
THE SERGEANT OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL.
In an ornate form of Verger's Gown, holding his Verge
or Mace. (See page I73-)
^Additional Items 1 7 5
Two LOCAL CUSTOMS
This may be the place to mention two
local customs which have a historic interest.
At York and Salisbury and one or two
other cathedral churches, the boy choristers
wear a ruff attached to their cassocks, as
in Plate 28. At St. James' Palace the
choristers " the children of the Chapel
Royal " wear a curious and very brilliant
choir-habit, (Plate 38), consisting of a
scarlet and gold coat, with ruffs at the
wrists, worn with bands and with the
College Cap, and over scarlet knee-
breeches and black stockings.
WANDS AND MACES
Our list of personal Ornaments would
perhaps hardly be complete if we omitted
all mention of the Verges or Maces,
Staves or Wands, which are used by those
who make the way for processions, whether
they be churchwardens or vergers. They
are as distinctive of these important church
176 Out-door Costume
officers as the Crozier is of the bishop, and
their use adds very greatly to the interest
and beauty of processions. The church-
wardens' Wands have generally metal
heads bearing a little figure of the patron
saint, or some other symbol appropriate
to the dedication of the Church ; the
shorter Mace of the Verger often has a
similar head, and is sometimes of metal
throughout. In important processions,
where other marshalls or stewards are
required, these should all have white
wands, tipped with gilding or colour.
THE OFFERTORY VEIL
We may be content here with a bare
mention of the Offertory Veil ; since,
though thrown over the shoulders, it is an
Ornament of the Church rather than of
the Ministers. A long strip of silk or
other material, used by the clerk when lie
carries in the sacred vessels, it is shown in
Plate 39.
PART V
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ORNAMENTS
177
N
CHAPTER XXIV
Isjje @okur of Vestments
IN the Choir-habit, colours are mainly
associated with the Hoods of the various
degrees 1 ; but the more Primitive over-
vestments the Chasuble, Dalmatic, Tuni-
cle, Stole, Maniple, and Cope are usually
worn of various colours, illustrating (with
the Altar-frontal) the seasons of the year.
This useful and instructive custom, grew
up very slowly. The earliest traces of
any distinctive variation of colour are in
the 6th century, when white is occasionally
mentioned as the special colour for Easter,
the Chasuble (which was usually red or
brown) being apparently worn of any
colour at other seasons of the year. 2
That is indeed still the most general
1 See p. 145. 2 See p. 20.
Plate 38.
CHOIR HABIT OF THE CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL.
Black stockings, scarlet knee-breeches, scarlet and gold
coat, bands, college-cap. (See page 175.)
The Colour of Vestments 18 1
practice in the Eastern Church to this
day. In the 9th century we find in some
places, besides white for Easter, black * or
dark vestments mentioned for penitential
occasions ; this would give a rough
three-colour sequence (white black
various), any colour being used for other
times of the year. In 1130 at Milan
red was used at Passiontide, and thus we
arrive at the foundation colour-sequence
of white red black, with presumably
any colour for the remaining days.
During the later half of the I2th century
a fuller system must have grown up at
Rome ; for Innocent III about the year
1 200 described the colours which he
found in use at that time, and they form
the white red violet green black
sequence, used very nearly in the same
way as now. The other colour, yellow,
1 The only earlier mention of black is in 476
when the Patriarch of Constantinople clothed himself
and his sanctuary in black as a protest against a
decree of the Emperor.
Plate 38.
CHOIR HABIT OF THE CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL ROYAL,
Black stockings, scarlet knee-breeches, scarlet and gold
coat, bands, college-cap. (See page 175.)
The Colour of Vestments 1 8 1
practice in. the Eastern Church to this
day. In the 9th century we find in some
places, besides white for Easter, black * or
dark vestments mentioned for penitential
occasions ; this would give a rough
three-colour sequence (white black
various), any colour being used for other
times of the year. In 1130 at Milan
red was used at Passiontide, and thus we
arrive at the foundation colour-sequence
of white red black, with presumably
any colour for the remaining days.
During the later half of the i2th century
a fuller system must have grown up at
Rome ; for Innocent III about the year
1 200 described the colours which he
found in use at that time, and they form
the white red violet green black
sequence, used very nearly in the same
way as now. The other colour, yellow,
1 The only earlier mention of black is in 476
when the Patriarch of Constantinople clothed himself
and his sanctuary in black as a protest against a
decree of the Emperor.
Plate 39.
CLERK IN TUNICLE
Carrying the Eucharistic vessels in the Offertory Veil.
(See pages 65, 176.)
The Colour of Vestments 183
Innocent mentions as reserved by some
for Confessors ; he treats it as a variant
of green, and blue as a variant of black.
Thus definite rules for colour really
arose in the I2th century ; but outside
the city of Rome they remained for some
time in the transitional white red black
stage, as is illustrated by the Statutes
of Bishop Patteshall at Lichfield, c. 1240,
which supply the earliest complete sequence
outside Rome. Other dioceses in the i3th
century among them that of Salisbury, as
shown in the famous Sarum Missal were
developing a colour sequence, beginning
with white, red, and black, and adding
yellow, and green, and blue. There was an
infinite variety even when rules were
given, as is shown by Braun who with his
usual industry has collected the colours
from ftfty different sources, 1 and the
exceptions were innumerable.
1 Die Lit. (jemndung pp. 730-747. Extensive
lists of colours used in England have been contributed
by Dr. J. Wickham Legg and Mr. W. H. St. John
Plate 39.
CLERK IN TONICLE
Carrying the Eucharistic vessels in the Offertory Veil.
(See pages 65, 176.)
The Colour of Vestments 183
Innocent mentions as reserved by some
for Confessors ; he treats it as a variant
of green, and blue as a variant of black.
Thus definite rules for colour really
arose in the I2th century ; but outside
the city of Rome they remained for some
time in the transitional white red black
stage, as is illustrated by the Statutes
of Bishop Patteshall at Lichfield, c. 1240,
which supply the earliest complete sequence
outside Rome. Other dioceses in the I3th
century among them that of Salisbury, as
shown in the famous Sarum Missal were
developing a colour sequence, beginning
with white, red, and black, and adding
yellow, and green, and blue. There was an
infinite variety even when rules were
given, as is shown by Braun who with his
usual industry has collected the colours
from fifty different sources, 1 and the
exceptions were innumerable.
1 Die Lit. Cjewandung pp. 730-74.7. Extensive
lists of colours used in England have been contributed
by Dr. J. Wickham Legg and Mr. W. H. St. John
184 Significance of the Ornaments
On the Continent colour sequences
developed in the 1 6th century to great
elaboration, till they succumbed to the
Ultramontane craze for uniformity, and
Pope Pius IX suppressed almost the last
of them within living memory. In Eng-
land, before the Reformation, there was
a tendency towards the main features of
the Innocentian sequence, such as white
for Eastertide and blue for Advent,
though it was customary to use the best
vestments on the highest feasts, whatever
their colour, and -to keep older or plainer
ones for lesser occasions ; white was also
generally used for St. Mary and Virgins,
red for Martyrs ; plain linen marked with
sacred emblems was almost universal in
the first four weeks of Lent, and so was
the red and black of Passiontide. This
covered most occasions in those days,
Hope to the Transactions of the St. Paul's Eccl. Society,
Vols. i and 2. See also Mr. E. G. C. Atchley on
" English Liturgical Colours " in Essays on Ceremonial
(ed., V. Staley), 1 904.
Plate 40.
A BISHOP CELEBRATING THE HOLY COMMUNION IN
THE ITH CENTURY.
184 Significance of the Ornaments
On the Continent colour sequences
developed in the i6th century to great
elaboration, till they succumbed to the
Ultramontane craze for uniformity, and
Pope Pius IX suppressed almost the last
of them within living memory. In Eng-
land, before the Reformation, there was
a tendency towards the main features of
the Innocentian sequence, such as white
for Eastertide and blue for Advent,
though it was customary to use the best
vestments on the highest feasts, whatever
their colour, and to keep older or plainer
ones for lesser occasions ; white was also
generally used for St. Mary and Virgins,
red for Martyrs ; plain linen marked with
sacred emblems was almost universal in
the first four weeks of Lent, and so was
the red and black of Passiontide. This
covered most occasions in those days,
Hope to the Transactions of the St. Paul's Eccl. Society,
Vols. i and 2. See also Mr. E. G. C. Atchley on
" English Liturgical Colours " in Essays on Ceremonial
(ed., V. Staley), 1904.
Plate 40.
A BISHOP CELEBRATING THE HOLY COMMUNION IN
THE 15-111 CENTURY.
1 86 Significance of the Ornaments
because nearly every Eucharist was either
for some Saint's Day or else a votive
commemoration ; and there was thus little
need of a ferial colour for ordinary days
till the Prayer Book restored again the
ferial service, though, indeed, green,
which is now the usual ferial colour, was
common enough in Mediaeval England.
The Innocentian colour scheme, which
is so well known at the present day, and
so intelligible, was put forward by some
English bishops in the I4th and I5th
centuries for use in their own pontificals ;
but these episcopal sequences did not
have much effect upon the kaleidoscopic
variations of the parish churches. Gran-
disson's I4th century Exeter sequence is
extant, and so are those of Canterbury and
London : all give the Innocentian colours
with the addition of such common English
customs as the use of the Passiontide red.
This arrangement is too well known
almost to need description. Its principal
features are the use of a rich white for most
'The Colour of Vestments 187
great festivals and for virgin-saints, of red
for Whitsuntide -and for martyr saints, of
violet for Advent (and for Lent in default
of the Lenten ashen white), of green for
ordinary days, and of black for funerals,
white being used for Baptism, Confirma-
tion, Ordination, and Marriage. Thus
while a poor church can be content with
fqur colours (white, red, green and violet),
a. -rich church may have a sequence of
eight colours, arranged as in the following
table, where W stands for white, R for
red, G for green, V for violet, B for black,
Y for yellow, L for Lenten white, and
P for Passiontide red mixed with black :
Advent - - V Whitsuntide - R
Christmas to Epiph. W Trinity - - W
After Epiphany - G After Trinity - G
Se.ptua. to Lent - V Dedication - - W
Lent, four weeks - L Vigils - - V
Lent, Passiontide - P Virgins, etc. - W
Good Friday - P Apostles, Martyrs, etc. R
Easter - - W Confessors - - Y
Rogation - - V Funerals - - B
Ascension - W Baptisms, etc. - W
:88 Significance of the Ornaments
CHAPTER XXV
Use of tde Ornaments
'TPHE Ornaments described in this
-L book were not originally used with
any symbolical meaning, though in the
Middle Ages various mystical interpreta-
tions grew up, which were arbitrary and
very diverse. Perhaps the only instances
worth remembering are those which took
the Amice to mean good works, the Albe
chastity, the Girdle discretion, and the
Chasuble charity, covering all. Another
school of interpreters took the Eucharistic
vestments to symbolize the bonds and the
purple robe of our Lord. 1
. But the real significance of the Orna-
ments is that they tell the office of the
1 The whole matter is discussed by Braun with his
usual thoroughness, and has been well summarized in
the Con^p. Report.
Use of the Ornaments 189
Ministers and the service in which they
are engaged. A summary of their use,
mentioning the Ornaments in their order
as worn over the Cassock, may therefore
be useful :
At the Holy Communion : Priest in
Amice, Albe, Stole (aver both shoulders),
Maniple, Chasuble ; Deacon, Amice, Albe,
Stole (over left shoulder), Maniple, Dal-
matic ; Subdeacon, Amice, Albe, Maniple,
Tunicle ; Clerk, Amice, Albe, Tunicle ;
Servers, Amice and Albe, or Rochet, or
Surplice.
At Holy Baptism : Priest in Surplice
(Hood if convenient), Stole ; Server as
above.
A Stole means always that a Sacrament
is being administered.
At Mattins and Evensong : the Surplice,
garments of distinction being worn over
it, and a Cope at festal services.
At the Occasional Offices : the same, with
the addition of a Stole if they are sacra-
mental. The Cope may be worn if desired.
Plate .41.
PRIEST VESTED FOR A BAPTISM OR WEDDING.
In Surplice and Stole. (See page 189).
Use of the Ornaments 191
In Processions the same, the Cope
being .an essential processional garment,
at least for the officiant.
The garments of distinction referred to
above are :
An Archbishop : the Pallium over the
Chasuble, in addition to the other episcopal
vestments ; the Cross-staff carried before
him.
A Bishop : with the priest's Eucharistic
vestments ; the Mitre and Crozier, and
perhaps other insignia (which may include
on special occasions the Tunicle and Dal-
matic worn under the Chasuble). On other
occasions ; over the Rochet, Surplice (gen-
erally omitted), Grey Almuce (if desired),
Cope, Mitre, Crozier. Out of Church
(or for preaching, or non-liturgical ser-
vices), Chimere and furred Tippet, with
black velvet square cap. All episcopal
garments should be worn over the Rochet.
Priests and Deacons in Choir :
A Dean or Canon , grey fur Almuce over
the Surplice.
Plate 41.
^
* W* * ^* w r ** * i ^ fiX\W * ^ KMT? \
^fer-'.'-V. 1 -^.;..^^^
t/-r/. .- L^J .rrkV;^^
^ . -- . ** ' & - ^
'T- * ' " -J^* , .. -,- ' r,V * ^
,- r i ,. i HI <1 f A\ ,< ^/j75T..'
,r *, > r, " . f
, ' , * \ i', > Si
' \ >S. s_ ' <1
FRIKST VESTED FOR A BAPTISM OR
In Surplice and Stole. (See page 189).
Use of the Ornaments 1 9 1
In Processions the same, the Cope
being an essential processional garment,
at least for the officiant.
The garments of distinction referred to
above are :
An Archbishop : the Pallium over the
Chasuble, in addition to the other episcopal
vestments ; the Cross-staff carried before
him.
A Bishop : with the priest's Eucharistic
vestments ; the Mitre and Crozier, and
perhaps other insignia (which may include
on special occasions the Tunicle and Dal-
matic worn under the Chasuble). On other
occasions ; over the Rochet, Surplice (gen-
erally omitted), Grey Almuce (if desired),
Cope, Mitre, Crozier. Out of Church
(or for preaching, or non-liturgical ser-
vices), Chimere and furred Tippet, with
black velvet square cap. All episcopal
garments should be worn over the Rochet.
Priests and Deacons in Choir :
A Dean or Canon, grey fur Almuce over
the Surplice.
192 Significance of the Ornaments
L A Minor Canon, Almuce of other
material and colour.
Graduates, Silk Tippet (Stuff Tippet
for Bachelors), and the Hood of their
degree, over Surplice. --
'Non-graduates, Stuff Tippet over Surplice.
; Minor Orders, or Laymen, in Choir :
Over the Cassock, the Surplice.
In some dioceses Readers wear a badge
suspended from the neck by a ribbon, but
this is not a liturgical Ornament.
Chanters may wear the Cope over the
Surplice.
All Priests out of Church (or for preach-
ingj or non-liturgical services), over the
Cassock, Gown, Tippet, Square Cap.
INDEX
Albe, 14, 33-41.
Almuce, 7, 133-6, 155.
Amice, 104-5.
Amictus, 104.
Amphibalus, 44-7.
Apparels, 39, 65, 104-5.
Baculus, 106.
Bands, 173.
Biretum, 155-7.
Bishop's Vestments, 65, 106-
110, 111-115, 117-122,
149, 1 60, 162-6.
Buskins, 67-9, 113.
Byrrus, 25, .28 n, 83-8, 137-
9, 155-
Caligae, 69.
Campagus, 68.
Cap, 133, 137, 153-161, 171.
Cappa, 85, 88.
Cappa Clausa, 99.
Cappa Nigra or Choralis,
88, 95-9.
Caputium, 137.
Cassock, 167-171.
Casula, 46, 53 h.
Chapeau, 171.
Chapel Royal, 175.
Chaplain, Royal, 103.
Chasuble, 25, 27, 28-30,
42-54.
Chimere, 7, 121, 162-6.
Chiton, 35-7.
Chlamys, 24, 28.
Cincture, 1 68.
Clavus, 39, 65.
Cloth Cope,. 88, 95-9.
Coif, 155, 159.
College Cap, 160.
Colours, 15-21, 179-187.
Cope, 25, 79-103, 163-5,
191.
Cowl, 139.
Cross-staff, 107-8.
Crozier, 3, 106-7.
Cucullus, 28, 139.
Dalmatic, 23, 28n, 30-1,44,
46, 48, 60-6.
Doctor's Cope, 99-101.
Epimanikia, 76.
Epitrachelion, 74.
Frigium, 108.
193
194
Index
Garter (Mantle), 103.
Girdle, 39-41.
Gloves, 113-4.
Gowns, 7, 168-173.
Himation, 36.
Hood, I37-I45> *46, H7
Lacerna, 25, 83-8, 139.
Lincoln Cope, 96-9.
Liripip, 140, 146-150.
Mace, 175-6.
Mandyas, 93.
Maniple, 26, 75-6.
Mantles, 101-3.
Manutergium, 72.
Mappula, 26, 75.
Mitre, 108-110.
Morse, 93.
Mozzetta, 134;
Omophorion, 59.
Orans, 62.
Orarium, 26, 71-4.
Ornament, 3-4.
Ornaments Rubric, 4-8.
Orphreys, 39, 53, 65, 90.
Paenula, 20, 25, 28n, 42-48,
139.
Pallium, 14, 24-5, 28 n, 46,
55-9-
Pastoral Staff, (see Crozier).
Pectoral Cross, 113-5.
Phaelones, 43. . .
Phelonion, 54. '
Pileolus, 159-160.
Pileus, 133, 155-9.
Pluviale, 86, 88.
Poncho, 47, 87.
Rationale, 113.
Rings, 113.
Rochet, 117-125.
Ruff, 175.
Sakkos, 66.
Sandals, 15, 67-9, 113.
Scapular, 47.
Shoes, 15, 67-9, 171.
Staff, i 06-8, 175.
Stichanon, 38, 66.
Stole, 7, 30, 7i-4, 189.
Surplice, 122, 127-131.
Tabard, 138, 173.
Tiara, 108.
Tippet, 7, 137, 146-150,
168-173.
Toga, .23, 28, 56.
Tunic, 14, 21, 22-3, 35-9,
44, 60.
Tunicle, 60-6. ;
Veil, 176."
Verge, 175..
Vestment, 3, 71
Vexillum, 107.
Wand, 7, 175-6,
White, 15-21.
Zonarion, 41. '
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